Blue Apron, Care/of and 28 more podcast advertisers went “back to school” in 2018
More than 5,000 brands have advertised on podcasts. Get a heads-up when new brands test podcasts as a marketing channel for the first time: learn more.
With back to school time approaching faster than many of us would like, we analyzed how advertisers leverage back to school to get their message across in podcast ads. In 2018, Magellan picked up ads from 30 advertisers running back to school ads on the top 400 podcasts.
Who ran back to school ads?
Advertisers in 20 different industries ran back to school campaigns. Advertisers in the business services & software, retail, and food industries ran the most back to school ads. These three industries made up 57.7% of the ads.
Top 5 advertisers running back to school ads:
What did the hosts talk about in these ads?
Staples ran radio-style ads on podcasts promoting products for back to school. Ads were similar to this ad on The Chad Prather Show, where Staples compares school with business. In the ad Staples is encouraging small businesses to take advantage of back to school deals.
Amazon.com ran radio-style ads on podcasts promoting back to school items that you can purchase on their site. In this ad from the Adam Carolla Show, they mention items that are likely to excite kids like “zebra lunchboxes” and getting back to school items without the hassle of stores.
Care/of ran ads talking about always being on the go and not having enough time to devote to your health with the start of school. In this host read ad from The Read, the hosts talk about how Care/of can make taking care of yourself easy with their vitamins.
Lands’ End ran ads promoting back to school shopping for kids. In their ads, they talked about their backpacks and clothing. In this host read ad from The Longest Shortest Time, Hillary talks about the Land’s End backpacks and how her kid’s backpacks from them match their personalities. At the end of the ad, she mentions that Lands’ End has all your kids must haves for back to school.
Blue Apron’s ads are all about making back to school easier with their 20 minute meals. Ads from Blue Apron include hosts talking about one of the meals they made from their box along with a time-saving message. For example, in this ad from Serial Killers, the host talks about being busy with driving her kids back and forth from school. Blue Apron saves her time with their easy 20 minute meals. Both of the hosts mention their favorite meals from the box.
Target’s ads are focused on getting everything your kids need for their first day of school, from school supplies to clothing. In this ad from The Book, the host talks about getting everything on your kid’s list for their first day of school and every day.
Where did brands advertise?
Typically we don’t see TV & Film or Kids & Family among our top Apple Podcast categories. Ads from Q1 ’19 were found mainly on Comedy, News & Politics, and Society & Culture versus back to school ads. Ads for back to school ads were found in similar categories, however, TV & Film represented 14.3% of the ads and Kids & Family represented 7.4% of the ads.
Top 5 shows and what brands advertised
- Big Brother Canada 7 & Big Brother 21 Recaps & Live Feed Updates from Rob Has a Podcast — TV & Film — 14 ads from Amazon.com and Staples
- The Christopher Scott Show Talk Radio — News & Politics — 14 ads from Amazon.com and Staples
- Modern Love — Society & Culture — 8 ads from Lands’ End
- Couple Therapy — Comedy — 7 ads from Care/of
- The Longest Shortest Time — Kids & Family — 7 ads from Care.com, Lands’ End, and Sun Basket
So who’s advertising on podcasts
While some brands focused on saving parents time getting all the back to school items for their kids; other brands offered huge savings. For example ads from Staples and Lands’ End offered big discounts on their products, while Blue Apron and Amazon.com were all about saving time during back to school.
Get the full list of the 30 advertisers that ran back to school ads in 2018 by searching “Event: Back to school” in Magellan or sign up for a demo.
Interested in how advertisers are talking about other major events in podcast ads throughout the year? So are we! Reach out to research@magellan.ai with ideas or questions.
Magellan AI creates tools that help marketers at brands like SimpliSafe, Wix, and ThredUP spend intelligently on podcast advertising. Podcast publishers like WNYC and Gimlet Media use Magellan to track advertisers spending money in the podcast space. Learn More.
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