Fall has a way of putting life on 2x speed.
School drop-offs replace slow mornings. Commutes get longer. Weekends spent at football games and extracurriculars. As consumers’ new routines settle in, marketers are already months ahead, with holiday planning in full swing.
Settling into a routine is not always smooth. As summer flexibility gives way to packed calendars, families suddenly need to make more efficient use of the same 24 hours each day. That shift is being felt: according to recent Morning Consult research conducted for Shipt, 60% of parents say the transition to fall routines feels overwhelming.
For marketers, the challenge is clear: consumers have less time to slow down just as brands are asking for more of their attention. Holiday campaigns are ramping up, competition is intensifying, and busy consumers have less attention to spare for ads that ask them to stop what they’re doing.
That means marketers need to think beyond the media moments that require consumers to stop and look. Podcasts can move with them through the commute, school drop-off, grocery run, or workout, creating opportunities for brands to earn attention without competing with everything else on a screen.
As the holiday rush builds, the opportunity is not simply to add podcasts to the media mix. It is to build a media strategy around how consumers actually move through their day.
Tune Into Where Attention Is Going
As holiday advertising ramps up, every channel in your media mix needs a clear role. Start by looking for where your existing mix may be leaving opportunities on the table, both in who you’re reaching and when you’re reaching them.
Podcasts can open up parts of the day when consumers are already on the move. According to Spotify, 77% of podcast listening happens on mobile and 35% takes place during commuting hours. As commutes, school drop-offs, errands, and holiday shopping fill the calendar, those listening habits give brands another way to stay present without competing for another glance at a screen.
The opportunity isn’t just when you’re reaching people, but who you’re reaching, too. Podcast listenership spans generations, with younger audiences spending significant time with the medium. As Ad Age recently reported, Gen Z spends an average of 103 minutes a day with podcasts, about 34% more time than they spend on TikTok. For marketers accustomed to looking first to social to reach younger consumers, it’s a reminder to follow actual media behavior when deciding where holiday dollars belong.
Rather than treating podcasts as another box to check, look for where they can add something distinct to your fall and holiday media plan. That could mean reaching a new segment of your audience, fitting naturally into their day-to-day, or capturing attention in moments your other channels miss.
The Power of a Trusted Voice
Finding the right audience is only the first step. Once you’ve decided where podcasts belong in your media plan, the next question is how your brand should show up there.
That matters even more during a season when consumers are encountering advertising at nearly every turn. Podcasts offer something different because the message can come through a voice the audience already knows and chooses to listen to. In many ways, podcast hosts function like influencers, building trust and familiarity with loyal audiences over time. According to Audacy, 75% of listeners describe podcast hosts as authentic, 21 points higher than social influencers at 54%.
That relationship can translate into advertiser attention, too. The same research found that 71% of listeners say they pay more attention to podcast ads than ads they encounter elsewhere.
We’ve seen that opportunity firsthand. For a leading jewelry brand January Digital has worked with, host-read integrations across a selection of Dear Media podcasts drove significant brand lift, including +12 points in aided awareness, +13 points in familiarity, +11 points in affinity, and +11 points in purchase intent. The campaign was designed to let hosts bring the brand into their conversations in a way that felt native to their audiences rather than simply delivering a standard audio spot.
When done intentionally, the host can become additive to the creative rather than simply the channel delivering it. Instead of repurposing the same message running elsewhere, build it around the host, show, and audience.
Give the Moment More Airtime
Podcasts can also extend value beyond a single media moment. Fall and holiday calendars are full of tentpoles, from football and Halloween to gifting, holiday entertaining, and Black Friday, but the conversations around those moments often start well before the event and continue after it.
Our partners at Carhartt took that approach around the start of the NFL season. Rather than limiting its presence to game-day media, the brand extended into the broader football conversation through shows including The Gronk & Jules Show, Fitz & Whit, The Bill Simmons Podcast, and The Ringer Fantasy Football Show. The strategy included custom host reads, social clips, and even negotiated on-set product placement, giving the brand multiple ways to show up around a cultural moment its audience was already following.
That same thinking can apply across the holiday calendar. A gifting campaign doesn’t have to begin and end with Black Friday, just as a football campaign doesn’t have to live entirely inside the game. Look at the conversations building before, during, and after your biggest seasonal moments, then identify where podcasts can give your brand a relevant reason to stay part of them.
Build Podcasts Into the Media Plan, Not Beside It
A podcast partnership can work even harder when it connects to the surrounding channels. During the holidays, when brands are already balancing social, video, CTV, creator, retail, and other investments, podcasts don’t have to operate in isolation.
As podcasts increasingly extend into video and social, marketers can think beyond audio inventory and consider the full ecosystem around a show.
Dunkin’ recently took that approach through a partnership with Giggly Squad. As The Drum reported, Dunkin’ Refreshers were woven into bonus episodes and host conversations, while the product also appeared across the show’s YouTube content, social clips, studio recordings, and live tour. The partnership was built to travel with the show wherever its audience encountered it.
As we move through the fast-paced fall season and into holiday planning, marketers should think beyond the audio inventory when evaluating podcast partnerships. Look at what a show can unlock across audio, video, social, talent, and content, and how those touchpoints can complement the rest of your media plan.
Keep Moving With Your Audience
As fall gives way to the holiday rush, the opportunity isn’t simply to add another channel to the mix. It’s to find new ways into the routines, conversations, and cultural moments already commanding consumers’ attention.
Podcasts give brands a way in. When life speeds up, the best marketing moves with it.
