Pandora, ads and hijack your brand

I have recently become more and more frustrated with ad creep on Pandora (they are spreading beyond the right column). When I groused about this to my Twitter followers, @rondiver and a couple other people responded almost immediately to my Tweet. Since my tweets are also posted on my Facebook account, word of my unhappiness with Pandora spread quickly.

One friend commented that she was planning on advertising with Pandora and asked how I felt about the situation. Here is my response:

In all honesty, I do not mind the ads as long as they are aligned with Pandora’s perceived culture. Meaning, Pandora is a place that I can get all kinda of cool music, be introduced to new music and feel liberated to use it.

Ads that promote select subjects to a narrow audience are great. Breast cancer, Dave Matthews’ new album, proponents of peace, even some alcohol ads don’t bother me too much.

So far I have been okay with the right side of their Web site being devoted to ads but I feel it creeping more and more to the left side of the page. Even the placement of  ads in the music window is okay because I can see it but it does not talk to me or make noise.

Don’t get me wrong I am a proponent of any Web company that can post revenue. I’ve been a fan of Pandora for quite a while but have definitely noticed an increase in ads over the last 9 months.

Shortly after my initial gripe tweet, a pop-over came up on top of the usual Pandora screen and it was some random ad. I immediately turned away from Pandora and Tweeted about my frustration. A couple of friends suggested I try thesixtyone.com and I’ve been playing with that.

I’m not saying I will not head back over to Pandora — I am fairly loyal to their service. It has taken me the last year plus to really trust Pandora. Now I do and will accept ads because I support them. But, it’s my hope they do not take advantage of that privilege.

Other Web companies have engaged in the same methodology –building trust and engaging customers over a longer period of time–and it has worked. Alex Whipperfurth would call it getting people to “hijack your brand”. And it works. That is exactly why Facebook is so popular, Zappos has a loyal following and Converse has lasted so long.

I think about this stuff daily.

Theron McCollough
President, PeoplePond
http://peoplepond.com/theronmccollough