Happy Hour: Serving Up Brand Recall and Captivating Audiences

Creating an ad experience that resonates with consumers isn’t always a straight line. But when you have the right partners and platforms by your side, it becomes easier to hit the right note. At SiriusXM Media, we strive to meet brands and consumers at exactly the right time. We know brands do better when they capture audience attention at the right moment, meeting the listener when they’re in the right mood and mindset to hear your ads. 

That’s why brands can leverage our Happy Hour sponsorship on Pandora to take advantage of meaningful moments during periods of increased listening time. Here’s everything to know about the premium solution. 

What Is Happy Hour on Pandora? 

Happy Hour is one of our video and rewarded ad solutions on Pandora that provides ad-free listening in exchange for watching a video ad—creating genuine connection between listeners and advertisers. Here’s how it works: During a sponsorship, Pandora listeners who launch the app on Thursdays between 6-9pm local time will see a pop-up inviting them to start an ad-free Happy Hour experience by watching a short ad. 

If they accept, listeners watch a short video ad and are rewarded with an uninterrupted station listening until the end of Happy Hour. If they dismiss this pop-up, listeners return to their normal listening experience and will not receive the opportunity again until the following week.

It’s a win-win: listeners get uninterrupted listening while brands only pay if a listener watches 15 seconds of the ad. Happy Hour is just one of the many rewarded ads on the SiriusXM Streaming Network, including Video Plus and Sponsored Listening. 

Why Happy Hour?

Happy Hour offers a fun and unique solution for reaching your consumers while also generating brand awareness and favorability. This solution allows advertisers to contextually align to the moods and movements of consumers when they are tuned in. 

When you target your audience contextually, listeners will be more receptive. Happy Hour rewards them with the opportunity to be fully immersed in audio as they go about their day. That means Thursday Happy Hour starts when consumers are commuting, working out at the gym, making dinner, or hosting a group of friends—all the moments when music is a must-have. 

Here’s proof of it in action: We previously partnered with HBO Max for a Happy Hour takeover, and the campaign produced a +9.9% lift and 712K engagements in just a two-week span—cheers to that.  

What Are the Benefits of Happy Hour on Pandora?

Incentive-based video ads can create lasting benefits for advertisers, including better engagement, more retention, and positive brand associations. And listeners are up to 2X more likely to prefer mobile rewarded videos. Happy Hour ads are opt-in, meaning we give the listeners the freedom to choose whether they want to accept the ad and be part of the experience. With this format, ads feel more like a content break that listeners chose—and are immediately delighted they did. This is critical for advertisers looking to boost brand engagement.

Plus, we’re proud to have 100% share of voice (SOV) with our video ads, ensuring that your brand message stands out with no clutter. 

Make a Lasting Impression

Adding Happy Hour is a great way to incorporate a high-impact video takeover to a larger media strategy and reach an incremental audience. You don’t have to choose between audio, video, and display—combine all three formats for even more results. We’ve found that campaigns that added video and display to their audio-only streaming campaigns saw 52% incremental reach.

Ready to plan your own Happy Hour and create an experience that listeners look forward to every week? Let’s chat. 

More Reasons to Partner with the SiriusXM Streaming Network