Advertisers should craft dedicated ads for podcast listeners and not repurpose their radio creative, research from Acast has revealed.
The study of 1,800 podcast listeners across the UK, US and Sweden exposed listeners either to a podcast ad, a 3D podcast ad or a traditional radio ad for the same brand.
A 3D podcast ad differs from a normal podcast ad in that it creates immersive sound effects to mimic the environment. For example, if the ad were about a holiday, the background noise would mimic the sounds of the holiday setting.
When considering ad likeability, 60% of listeners said they liked the 3D podcast ads, 51% liked regular podcast ads and 47% liked traditional radio ads.
The study also found that 65% of listeners preferred the brand that used a regular podcast ad format as their first choice of brand over competitors, while 60% said they would choose the 3D podcast ad, and 56% said they would choose the traditional radio ad.
Jack Preston, director of Acast Creative UK and US, said: “This research overwhelmingly shows that listeners are craving a more creative and tailored experience from the brands that feature on their favourite podcasts.
“As podcast advertising has evolved from host reads to sponsored stories to branded episodes and series, it’s now time for advertisers to embrace the creative opportunities in the medium by proactively and deliberately designing ads to suit the podcast format.”
