Spotify Debuts Voice-enabled Audio Ads with Unilever
By Sara Shaw • May 3, 2019Spotify is testing voice-enabled audio ads for one of its own podcasts and another separate one for Unilever, allowing listeners to take action by saying a specific phrase during commercials. Although rival Pandora is also testing a similar feature, it hasn’t yet done so with any brands.
Spotify’s feature will only work if the person listening has their microphone enabled, the company says. A listener saying “Play now” when prompted by a specific AXE audio commercial from Unilever will cause the streaming service to play a curated playlist from the brand (which come with commercials).
Leslie Walsh, exec director of strategy at agency Episode Four mentioned that at the end of the day, Spotify is still serving an ad to listeners. “If the playlist or podcast isn’t relevant, or better than what a listener is already listening to, then people will just see it as a nuisance rather than a utility,” she says.