What's Your Podcast Personality?

Overview

BBC World Service has over 15,000 hours of high-quality podcasts covering science, nature, fiction, and sport, but low awareness and engagement rates mean that global audiences aren’t making the most of them.

As the global digital agency for BBC World Service, we raised awareness of this rich podcast offering among younger audiences in India and Nigeria. Our campaign needed to drive meaningful engagement, deliver direct podcast plays, and align with ATL promotion – all while staying accessible on low-powered devices.

Client

BBC World Service

Sector

Media

When

2023

Solutions

Digital Strategy
Content Marketing
Paid Media
UX & Web Development
Data & Analytics

Challenge

How do you get a new generation of podcast listeners to engage with 15,000+ hours of unfamiliar content – mainly in noisy markets with data limitations, device challenges, and low podcast awareness?

We needed a fun, personal, and shareable hook to start conversations and spark curiosity.

Examples of BBC World Service podcast ads on social media

Example of BBC podcast advertisements offline

Solution

Our campaign centred around one question: What’s your podcast personality? We developed a mobile-optimised microsite as the campaign’s central hub – lightweight enough to load on older devices and designed with sustainability in mind to reduce its carbon footprint. At its heart was a seven-question personality quiz that matched users with curated podcast playlists based on mood, interest, and genre. The aim was to create a fun, intuitive entry point into the BBC’s vast podcast catalogue while fostering personal connection and brand consideration.

The site launched alongside ATL activity to drive traffic, with QR-enabled OOH placements across India and Nigeria directing users to the microsite. Our media strategy focused on high-impact channels, including Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, and YouTube, to engage 18 to 34-year-olds. Quiz results were easily shareable on social media, encouraging organic reach and community interaction. In phase two, we re-targeted engaged users with podcast-specific ads based on their quiz results, directing them straight to BBC Sounds to sample episodes and deepen their listening habits.