Want to hear more of the Pandora ad? Just reply “Yes” to your phone. Interactive Voice Ads are now launching in beta.

In April last year, Pandora showed interest in the idea of interacting with ads via voice commands and began reaching out to advertisers such as Acura, Doritos, Volvo, Xfinity, and T-Mobile. December 2019 saw Pandora start rolling out tests of this feature with a small number of users. After seemingly success results, Pandora are now launching this feature in beta.

After an introduction, the ad will give you the opportunity to Talk Now, at this point you can simply reply “Yes” to hear more.

This sort of interactivity is great for listeners genuinely interested in the ad, but currently driving or running for example. It also provides something different for audiences and advertisers alike. Advertisers will be provided with key insights into how their ads are being received.

Doritos looks for ways to connect with those who are hyper-engaged with digital and are looking to build their lives online. We also seek to challenge advertising norms. Voice ads allow us to do both: engage our tech-forward audience with a message that disrupts. We took a playful approach by translating Doritos visual “Anti-Ad” creative concept to an audio environment to excite and intrigue listeners to say ‘yes’ to Doritos.

Leslie Vesper, Senior Director of Marketing, Doritos

This feature joins Pandora’s continued efforts to expand their voice control suite. Voice Mode is also being updated, now allowing requests for specific songs or albums rather than simply favourite stations, podcasts or personalized recommendations.

We’ve saw similar voice-activated ads on Spotify last year. Replying “Play now” would initiate the podcast or playlist being advertised.

It will be interesting to see how interactive ads will expand from here, potentially using AI to tailor responses, more than a simple “Yes” to hear more.