Pandora Stacks ‘Em Deep And Sells ‘Em Cheap By Appealing To Local Advertisers

I still listen to terrestrial radio, so I hear local radio advertising constantly. Now, according to the New York Times, Pandora is going after the same type of advertisers.

This year, Pandora has had 400 local advertising campaigns across the country. One new client was Planet Honda in Union, N.J., whose president, William Feinstein, said he gave up on terrestrial radio years ago because he felt it cast too wide and expensive a demographic net.

But attracted by Pandora’s ZIP-code targeting, he spent $10,000 to advertise on the service in January. IPhone traffic to his Web site — which he attributes to the ads — more than quadrupled, Mr. Feinstein said, and so he increased his spending to $15,000, then $20,000.

“A light bulb went off,” he said at Pandora’s party, holding a glass of wine. “We don’t need to buy five radio stations. We can buy one.”

Do you listen to Pandora? Will you still listen to it if there’s more advertising on it?