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This Valentine’s Day, Macy’s is showing some love to podcasters.
The retailer is running branded content segments across two pods to get listeners shopping for the holiday, working with podcast company Acast on the marketing push.
- On “Giggly Squad,” a comedic pop-culture podcast, hosts Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo exchange stories about their worst Valentine’s Days ever during a Macy’s segment that lasts about 10 minutes. The hosts share their Valentine’s Day outfits for this year—which, of course, they bought at Macy’s.
- “Naked Beauty,” a show about beauty trends and self-care, takes a slightly different approach. Host Brooke DeVard launches more quickly into her experience shopping at Macy’s for Valentine’s Day this year alongside her partner, followed by a description of the outfit she picked out.
Different strokes: The segments are part of a longer campaign Macy’s is running with these two podcasts. Macy’s requested the campaign target women under the age of 40 and tie to specific moments throughout the year, said Acast creative director Shantae Howell, so she pitched segments on two very different shows.
- “We really dug in with our podcasters to say, ‘What does Valentine’s Day mean to you?’ Whether that’s your worst memories, or your best memories, or what that means to you with your partner, tell us those stories and let that be the guiding context for what you are going to wear this Valentine’s Day,” Howell told Marketing Brew.
+1: As part of the campaign, the hosts of both shows also post their Macy’s Valentine’s outfits on social media, Howell said.
Break it down: Both “Giggly Squad” and “Naked Beauty” have audiences who are primarily between the ages 18–34, according to Acast. Acast declined to share further listenership stats, but on Instagram, Berner and DeSorbo have more than 1 million followers combined, while the “Giggly Squad” account has more than 90,000 followers. DeVard has more than 39,000 followers on her personal page, and more than 27,000 on the “Naked Beauty” account.
Zoom out: Branded podcasts have taken off in recent years, but not every brand should necessarily develop its own show, according to Howell. “In some cases, it’s done really well, and in some cases, it’s clear that folks just want a podcast and haven't necessarily invested,” she said. “It is still kind of the wild, wild west.”
That’s where options like host-read ads and branded segments or episodes come into play. But traditional retailers seem to be behind on podcast advertising: None made eMarketer’s list of the top 15 US podcast advertisers based on spend from last January through July, although Amazon clocked in at no. 6.—AM