March 2021: Top spenders, movers and shakers in podcast advertising
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Top 15 Spenders
Top 15 Movers & Shakers
FanDuel
Even if you didn’t build a bracket, you probably heard about college basketball in March. The annual playoff season gives sports betters and fantasy players another arena to play in after football season ends. DraftKings made our top spenders list in March and FanDuel increased their spend nearly 4x to get their slice of the madness. FanDuel reached audiences well beyond sports podcasts including shows in True Crime, Business, and News genres. As a result of the broad reach, the platform spent the highest amount ever in a single month. FanDuel used a mix pre-produced (like this one on Bachelor Party) and host-read ads (like this one on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette).
FanDuel employs a direct response approach and is up against several other sports betting competitors including DraftKings, William Hill Sports Book, and MyBookie. Given that online sports betting is restricted in some states, Magellan AI detected that FanDuel used some dynamic insertion, likely to target specific states where their games are legal.
In addition to ads on Outkick The Show with Clay Travis and The Colin Cowherd Podcast, our team flagged one of FanDuel’s ads for our www.reallygoodpodcastads.com showcase.
Sunday
Spring is growing season which means many people are dusting off their lawn mowers and start caring about grass again. Sunday is a subscription lawn care service focused on sustainability with kid- and pet-friendly products. Magellan AI detected Sunday in a few podcasts over the past year but they’re making a big push this spring with 25 new shows detected in March.
Sunday’s direct competitor, Instead by Swiss Farms, also made our list of movers & shakers this month. Instead burst onto the scene: we detected them on 49 new shows in March. It seems the two have maintained competitive separation well though, as Sunday’s ads are highest concentrated in Comedy and Sports shows while True Crime topped the list for Instead.
Sunday is a direct response advertiser typically found in mid-roll ads. Our team highlighted one of Sunday’s ads on www.reallygoodpodcastads.com and they can also be heard on The Tony Kornheiser Show and The Smoking Tire.
Ana Luisa
Ana Luisa is breaking free of the typical Valentine’s Day push for jewelry. The sustainability-focused company had a few ads promoting a V-day sale back in February but increased their spend by 4x in March. The ads in March feature a general awareness message with promo codes unique to each podcast, like this example on Kalyn’s Coffee Talk.
All of Ana Luisa’s ads are host-read and appear most often in Society & Culture podcasts. The jewelry industry is a crowded space in podcast advertising including legacy brands like Blue Nile and newcomers like Mejuri. Like Ana Luisa, Mejuri has focused their ads in the Society & Culture genre with ad copy conveying a message that encourages listeners to buy for themselves. Blue Nile and Helzberg Diamonds appealed more to partners with their placements in Sports and Comedy.
Ana Luisa is a direct-response advertiser. Listen to their ads on Unsolicited Advice with Ashley and Taryn and Something Scary. They’ve also made it to our www.reallygoodpodcastads.com showcase.
Methodology
Magellan AI analyzes podcast advertising data from the top 3,000 podcasts in the U.S., as ranked by Apple Podcasts. For parts of this analysis, we relied on Magellan AI’s proprietary model to estimate advertising spend. Our model incorporates a number of factors, including:
- The number of ads and variation in ad load detected for a given episode
- Number of downloads for each episode
- CPM, as reported on select media kits and estimated based on popularity
From time to time we adjust our model based on new inputs and user input.
Magellan AI creates tools that help marketers at brands like SimpliSafe, Wix, and ThredUP spend intelligently on podcast advertising. Podcast publishers like WNYC and Audioboom use Magellan to track advertisers spending money in the podcast space. Learn More.
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