A Podcast Advertising Case Study
The Audio Magic Behind
Magic Spoon's Growth
Magic Spoon Cereal is the leading direct-to-consumer health cereal brand. Magic Spoon recently secured an $85 Million raise to support its booming growth. Behind this growth has been the support of podcast advertising. Podcasts have become a primary channel in which they’ve secured dominance and have stayed fresh in the ears and bowls of listeners weekly with the help of ADOPTER Media. Here’s their story 👇
The Challenge
Helping adults choose healthier options for the things they love is challenging. Cereal, and all its wonders, are chief on that list. Childhood favourite brands have a grip on our nostalgia… an unhealthy grip. That’s where Magic Spoon comes in. Magic Spoon Cereal reimagines your favourite childhood cereals but with better ingredients. It’s a low-carb, high protein, and keto-friendly way to tap into that nostalgia. It’s good, and good for you.
But, convincing anyone to try something healthy and tasty requires some *magic*. Leaning on the influence of trusted thought leaders was critical for their success. Magic Spoon was already leaning into influencer partnerships when they saw the early opportunity to take advantage of podcast advertising.
That’s where ADOPTER Media comes in. Magic Spoon had one goal: convince the world that cereal could both be good and good for you. Teaming up with ADOPTER and partnering with podcasters was the perfect strategy to scale their breakfast empire.
Solution: The Magic Formula
Influence
Influence was key for Magic Spoon. Magic Spoon relied on trustworthy voices to support its mission.
Podcasters are much like underground celebrities with cult-like audiences. They have the ears of their listeners tuned in weekly to hear what they have to say. Hours of unadulterated content flowing to be briefly interrupted by an endorsement for a product they think their audience would love. The integration and recommendation come through like a friend looking out for you.
Influence transcended Magic Spoon’s expectations, as they found a home and alignment in categories like Politics, Comedy, and Sports.
One exceptional partner was Crooked Media. Crooked had the attention of much of America through their shows like Pod Save America, Hysteria, and What a Day. With key political influencers paving the way of thought for listeners.
10% Higher Life-Time Value Compared to Digital Channels
"The relationship that ADOPTER has had with our co-founders, head of growth, and I consists of a bond of trust, quality of discussion, and thought partnership that has been rock solid. When we weather times of inevitable crisis or lower periods of performance in this channel, just like any channel will have, ADOPTER has always been in the trenches with us. Instead of pushing their own agenda, ADOPTER has always been transparent about wanting podcasts to be a sustainable long-term channel for us."
Anne Wang, Senior Growth Marketing Manager @ Magic Spoon Cereal
Scale
Other digital channels, like Meta and Google, can be difficult to scale. Always in need of new creative for Meta Ads and other channels require hands-on daily management.
Podcast advertising unlocked Magic Spoon a scalable source of revenue. Unlike traditional influencer partnerships, podcast campaigns can last years in some cases. The consistency of listenership and conversions doesn’t waver nearly as much as in other influencer-based channels. This allowed Magic Spoon to find long-term, sustainable, and scalable shows to partner with.
The retargeting efforts of podcast advertising to the same loyal audience have also been shown to provide higher quality customers for Magic Spoon. Magic Spoon sees nearly 10% higher LTV value on podcast listeners vs. other marketing channels.
Conversions
Influence and Scale are definitely key, but the bedrock to both of these is conversions. Magic Spoon’s podcast campaign success fueled significant growth and investment since their initial campaign, consistently claiming some of the highest shares of voice in the industry. This was backed by strong performance over three years, with podcasting being one of the top channels regularly–as measured by their post-purchase survey.
Over the three years of partnership, Magic Spoon has reached millions of ears weekly. That’s a lot of cereal!
It’s Not Just Magic!
Magic Spoon’s fast growth in podcast advertising was a combination of a great product and brand coupled with the expertise of ADOPTER Media’s team. The ADOPTER Media team handles the copy, onboarding, negotiations, and operations of all things podcasting for Magic Spoon freeing up their team to focus on brand building and other channels.