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 ServiceSector
MediaWhen
2023Solutions
- Digital Strategy
- Content Marketing
- Paid Media
- UX & Web Development
- Data & Analytics
Challenge
We needed a fun, personal, and shareable hook to start conversations and spark curiosity.


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.

Results
- 1.1 million unique visitors (vs target of 750,000)
- 174,000 podcast plays (vs target of 27,000)
- Cost per play of £0.37 (vs target of £2.20)
- 8.6 million engaged social reach (vs target of 3.4 million)
- Gold for Best Use of Digital Media at the 2023 BIMA Awards.
