Dive Brief:
- In looking for new users, Pandora is turning to mobile video.
- The new direction is in line with Pandora’s overall goals of reaching highly-engaged users as well as focusing on campaign ROI over more basic key performance indicators such as clicks and app downloads.
- With streaming music becoming an increasingly crowded field, Pandora recently launched a multi-channel brand marketing campaign in an effort to reach a younger audience.
Dive Insight:
Pandora is known for streaming audio, but its latest focus is mobile video. Its audience listens to Pandora on mobile devices in large numbers – more than 75% of its 80 million monthly active users listen on mobile – and it believes adding video to the mobile experience will attract new users.
Lisa Sullivan-Cross, Pandora’s VP of growth told Ad Exchanger, “We want to acquire and engage high-quality listeners – aka users who actively use the app on a regular basis – and that’s where our KPIs are focused. It’s extremely important for the long-term growth of our business.”
About adding video to Pandora’s mobile offering, Sullivan-Cross explained, “Video allows for a richer experience and interaction with existing customers and with potential customers. It also helps us qualify the conversion before the click. We have more space to communicate our message in a video, which means that users know more about the brand and the product before they even click.”
Pandora also recently launched a cross-channel brand marketing push in an effort to reach a younger demographic with a video ad called “The Next Song” that originally only appeared online, and is now also appearing on TV.
