Dunkin’ drives audio ad results by matching background music to listeners’ tastes

Dive Brief:

• Dunkin’ drove 238% higher engagement with audio ads when piloting a new solution that dynamically matches ad content to what the user is listening to in real time, according to details shared with Marketing Dive.
• Developed by AI Music, the Sympaphonic Ads tool automatically adjusts the background audio of marketing messages to fit with different music genres. The intention is to cut down on production times for campaigns while delivering a less intrusive listening experience to consumers.
• AdsWizz is now the exclusive provider of Sympaphonic Ads for digital audio advertisers through its ad-buying platform. As marketers like Dunkin’ direct more media dollars to audio-first channels like music streaming and podcasts, personalization could become a bigger differentiator.

Dive Insight:

Sympaphonic Ads offer a simple solution — dynamically matching background audio to various music genres —but could make an important difference to consumers who don’t want their listening sessions interrupted by messages that sound out of place.

Dunkin’, one of the first brands to test the product, said it was able to deliver a more “seamless, personalized ad experience” and drove notably higher engagement compared to ads not applying the tool. The coffee chain worked with Publicis Inspire Media Engine, a bespoke media unit dedicated to parent company Inspire Brands, on the experiment. Inspire Brands named Publicis Groupe as its media agency of record in February.

Beyond making audio messages less disruptive, Sympaphonic Ads aim to help brands run their campaigns more efficiently since the underlying artificial intelligence automatically tweaks the content. Pilot campaigns have trimmed production time up to 95% compared with traditional audio ad tactics, according to AdsWizz Senior Vice President of Global Demand Pierre Naggar.

Sympaphonic Ads are now available in beta to agencies and trading desks that use AdsWizz’s AudioMatic demand-side platform and publisher partners on the AudioServe Campaign Manager. More ad tech companies and ad platforms are investing in audio tools that can dynamically adjust messages to account for listener needs. Amazon last month acquired the podcast distribution and monetization platform Art19, which developed a WarpFeed tool that tracks whether listeners are downloading an older episode of a podcast and inserts up-to-date messaging .

For Dunkin’, the pilot could indicate how the marketer is shifting media strategy under new leadership. The company, which was acquired by Inspire Brands last year in an $11.3 billion deal, named a new U.S. chief marketing officer in June following a two-year search. Rafael Acevedo, a Coke marketing vet, is tasked with overseeing brand marketing, product innovation, field marketing, advertising and digital marketing initiatives.