Coral DarbyLike over 100 million global podcast listeners (Stat, 2024), I love podcasts and often choose this format over traditional radio. Therefore, I have weaved a few podcast advertising examples into my radio ad analysis.
Brand marketers use podcasts as a meaningful way to connect with customers because the medium is trackable. Advertisers often provide the reader with a distinct URL and a discount code to measure the ROI on the ad spend. This data allows the marketer to track sales based on the distinct offer.
I love the Mel Robbin’s podcast. Mel Robbins caters to the mid-life, educated woman juggling her profession, young adult children, and aging parents. She offers a plethora of fantastic advice. Here are two examples of what I consider to be very effective.
Episode: 13 Things I Wish I Knew in My 20s (ad runs 30 minutes into the podcast)
Product/Service: DoorDash
What was the appeal/objective of the ad? The appeal is that DoorDash utilized a podcast aimed at mid-life moms to reach their Gen Z audience.
Target Market: This episode was penned for the moms, knowing they would forward it to their adult children, especially the ones who are anxious about the college-to-real-life transition or the children not launching. Ultimately, the audience is Gen Z, and they love to spend money they shouldn’t on DoorDash.
Action: DoorDash offered a discount code to get their target audience feeling okay about being less motivated to cook yet another night.
Episode: How to Achieve Your Most Ambitious Goals (ad runs 2 minutes into the podcast)
Product/Service: Expedia
What was the appeal/objective of the ad? The appeal is that although Mel is coaching women on achieving big, lofty goals, she offers, with conviction, why vacations through Expedia make sense and why they are healthy. She gives women the encouragement they need to take a break.
Target Market: Women! According to Gutsy Traveler, 80% of travel decisions are made by women.
Action: The Expedia ad encourages listeners to become One Stop Members and be eligible for discounts and price drop alerts.
Okay, now the traditional radio ads…
Product/Service: Bud Light Beer
Ad Collection: Bud Light Real Men of Genius Radio Commercials
Ad Example: We salute you, Mr. Foam Finger Maker
What was the appeal/objective of the ad? The appeal is the humor generated by the collection of ads Bud Light calls Real Men of Genius. By creating a collection of crazy-themed ads, Bud Light found a way to connect with millions of male beer drinkers nationwide. When men heard these hilarious ads, such as Mr. Silent Killer Gas Passer and We Salute You, Mr. Foam Finger Maker, they were eager to hear more. Bud Light leveraged the same voice-over and jingle throughout the campaign, building brand awareness and loyalty after each debut. These ads were so popular they eventually became TV ads.
Target Market: Men of drinking age. The common theme throughout was beer and bravado.
Action: There was no call to action. These were simply entertaining, brand-awareness ads.
Product/Service: Lysoform Home Cleaning Products
Radio Ad: Last Germ Campaign (2020)
What was the appeal/objective of the ad? I am in awe of the creativity of these ads. To be able to take a product that is not sexy and to make it appealing through a medium such as radio is an unbelievable accomplishment. The talent incorporated humor and real-life buzzwords (i.e., bucket list) to make the ad engaging and relatable. My ears delivered to my mind an animated short film with comedy and satire.
Target Market: Adults between 30 – 55 who understand pop culture
Action: There was no call to action. These were simply entertaining, brand-awareness ads.
Product/Service: Greenpeace – this is my first example of an ad representing an organization with a powerful message to get out to the world about environmental emergencies.
Radio Ad: Greenpeace Repeaters (2021)
What was the appeal/objective of the ad? The ads created are brilliant because they drive the listener insane to the point that the message becomes heard loud and clear. The scene is set, for example, by a water cooler, and two colleagues grab their plastic cups and imbibe. Then, out of nowhere, ‘cup’ gets verbally repeated to the point of ad nauseam, and a voiceover eventually kicks in, acknowledging the listener’s frustration, and then continues to state there will be 420 years of the word ‘cup’ until it disintegrates. The frustration created by the ad delivers the powerful takeaway – just stop using the cup!
Target Market: Everyone
Action: Stop and think about using a reusable cup.
Götting, M. C. (2024, January 12). Statista, U.S. Podcasting Industry Stats & Facts. Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/topics/3170/podcasting/#editorsPicks
I enjoyed the layout you used for your post Coral!
I think your point about podcasts being favored over the radio is brilliant. I also enjoy podcasts and typically prefer them over listening to the radio. Even when not listening to a podcast episode, I listen to ad-free music on Spotify. I remember podcasts becoming a thing pre-pandemic, and then boom they were everywhere. I think companies truly realized that they had to adapt their audio advertisements to the podcast space once the world realized how big of a hit podcasts are. It was like a switch clicked one day and podcasts that had no advertisements or sponsorships suddenly had them in every episode. You also mentioned those advertisements being more trackable and you’re right. Most podcasts have a special code or link, so a company can easily track where the new customers came from and that would easily help them decide whether to continue a partnership with said podcast or not.
Overall I really enjoyed your analysis, they were all very thorough and a few of them were even some of my top choices to cover. I can’t wait to see what commercials you cover next!
Thank you, Meaghan,
I appreciate your feedback. Curious, what are your favorite podcasts?
Hi,
I like the way you set up your analysis. I may try sampling your format for my next analysis assignment. The DoorDash ad wanted to target Gen-Z, which wants everything now and convenience at their fingertips. Why save money or cook or spend a lot of time cooking at home when you can have what you want instantly for a markup masked by a discount code? Also, it provided great insight into Bud Light Beer. I was aware of who they were targeting, but I wasn’t aware that this ad was a part of a campaign series. They created mini-episodes to keep the listener coming back for more. I have seen them do this before with their infamous Bud Bowl games during Superbowl commercials or the Budweiser Clydesdales around Christmas time every year. Mr. Silent Killer Gas Passer was hilarious…lol!
Coral,
Great analysis! I thought about pulling in some ads from podcasts too. Admittedly, most of the time I forward through podcast ads. There’s one podcast that I will listen to them because the hosts go out of their way to go off script and make the ads hilarious and play into the theme of the episode. If I skip the ads, sometimes I’ll miss a joke that they’ll continue into the episode. I feel like they’re onto something rather than inserting the same recording for ads in every episode.
I enjoyed reading through your analysis. DoorDash is one of my favorite services, and sometimes all it takes for me to order from one of my favorite spots is a promo covering a delivery fee. I hadn’t really thought about the appeal to parents until I read your analysis. I have some much younger sisters, now in their attempt to launch. I might look into ordering them a dinner sometime to make their day a little easier!
I love the message that Expedia is conveying, I’ll take any reason for a trip or vacation. I usually make final calls on travel itineraries, and the first in the friend group to send it and book the airbnb for the ski trip a year away. Outside of the message, I’m curious what Expedia has to offer compared to other travel booking services. They do make it easy as a one stop shop for flights, rental cars, and hotels. However, I usually find better prices booking from other travel portals and leveraging points with a little extra work.
Great work!
Taelor
Hi Taelor,
Thanks for taking the time to read through my post, I appreciate it! Good question on Expedia, I don’t think the copy did a great job selling the benefits. That said, I think Expedia was super smart to target Mel Robbins listeners. Cheers, Coral
Hello Coral,
Your use of podcast ads really illustrated something that many marketers may have seen, but I feel some brands may have not…interaction. Besides tapping on the steering wheel, there is not immediate way to interact with a Radio Ad, unless a gas station or fast food chain is right around the corner. What the podcast ads have done, is connect the world of radio, social media, and print ads into one, it truly is groundbreaking and one of the fastest growing platforms to your point.
It was interesting to see your ad breakdown of action at the end of each section. This clearly illustrated the actions, or lack thereof, and it makes me wonder…how long will it take for a majority of companies to switch their budgets to podcast/streaming versus, radio?
I have personally seen the cost of radio ads double in my area in the last year, and I quite curious as to when these price tags will remain steady, or drop as companies shift their focus. Thank you for bringing these ‘new’ avenues into your post.
Hi Ivan,
Thank you for your comments. It is really interesting how podcast advertising can take what was essentially radio ads and incorporate action and accountability into the buy. Honestly, I’ve not priced radio ads in years but I am so surprised to learn they are increasing in costs. I can’t imagine radio stations are experiencing significant audience growth but maybe I’m out of touch!
Best,
Coral
Including podcast within you radio advertisement analysis way very wise, as this shows some great examples, while depicting the changing times, as podcasts increase in popularity. I like your inclusion of the term ‘real-life buzzwords’. This is a great way to capture the concept of using carefully selected words and phrases to grab the audience’s attention. I do not have much prior experience in marketing, but this is a strategy that I have tried to mimic on my website and in my blog postings for our ENT 610 course (as this is my first public display of my work directly tied to my own personal brand image).
I also provided a shoutout to Bud Light’s “Real Men of Genius” campaign, as I found it quite humorous and a good way to promote the masses that all people can drink Bud Light. I learned through my research that these radio advertisements became so popular that they were eventually made in the television advertisements in the UK.