Pandora and the Mobile Marketing Revolution

MoreVisibility - March 29, 2016

Jason Gueits, Pandora

Ever heard of nomophobia? Nearly all of us have developed this fear and it’s only getting worse. It is the fear of being without one’s mobile device…and you are not alone if you’re thinking, “That’s me.”

Millions of people have reported suffering from nomophobia around the globe. In fact, cell phone ownership has surpassed 90% in the U.S., and it has become the one device that people carry with them at all times. Yet, from a marketing standpoint, most companies lack a mobile strategy to reach people on the device that is not just closest to the point of sale, but the conduit of the sale, in many cases. We’ve seen the trend take a massive left turn at Pandora. As a result, this has led to a cultural revolution in the way music is consumed.

If you look back just 5-6 years ago, the majority of users consumed our content via the desktop computer. Now, nearly 80% of usage comes from mobile and this translates to Pandora being the top platform in terms of time spent on mobile in the US.* Music streaming has consistently grown and mobile has become its main consumption avenue. The reality is that half of Americans are consuming music streaming on a weekly basis according to the most recent Edison Infinite Dial Study.**

In addition, music streaming is the largest single content use on smartphones. According to a recent Park Associates study, 68% of consumers stream music daily for an average of 45 minutes.*** The intersection of mobile usage and music streaming is not by coincidence. The ability to turn your cell phone into a radio, among other things, has accelerated the growth of streaming music and video. Pandora has been at the forefront of this shift and it continues to innovate for marketers who want to reach their target audience accurately, with no waste.

With over 80M monthly uniques, Pandora is the dominant player in the space in the U.S. and has the scale to target at a minimum by gender, geo, and age. As you dive deeper into the possibilities, there is the opportunity to target by ethnicity through proprietary first-party data, or to delve into one of our third-party audience segments to reach your target consumer. In short, Pandora gives you the ability to achieve an optimal combination of reach and frequency by combining the mass scale of an audience in a given market, with the frequency building for a well-defined audience segment.

Ultimately, a mobile strategy will become essential to survival in the new marketing reality.

For more information on Pandora and its offerings please contact us.

*Comscore mobile metrix Dec’15; ages 18+
**Infinite Dial—Edison and Triton research
***http://www.parksassociates.com/blog/article/pr-03092016