Marc Maron and Cat and Nat Turn Up the Volume on Mental Health in new Podcast Advertising Campaign

Acast, the world’s largest independent podcast company, and CAMH Foundation, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation, have teamed up on a multi-part podcast advertising campaign to amplify messages about mental health and addiction resources. Through the voices of Marc Maron of WTF with Marc Maron and Catherine Belknap and Natalie Telfer of Cat and Nat Unfiltered, CAMH Foundation brings to the forefront conversations about experiences with addiction and mental health to raise awareness about the resources available to listeners.

“We believe in the magic of podcast advertising and the deep connection that listeners feel towards their favorite hosts when they hear them talk about brands and services. We were excited to partner with Acast’s team and ad targeting tools in helping spread our important message about addiction and mental illness,” said Sarah Chamberlin, CMO and VP of Community Giving and Engagement at CAMH Foundation . Since launching we’re already seeing new referral traffic and donations, which is demonstrating the effectiveness of the authenticity of host-read advertising and personalized messaging to podcast listeners.”

The first iteration of the campaign ran across WTF with Marc Maron and Cat and Nat Unfiltered for six weeks this fall and included a mix of host-read sponsorships, longer-form Sponsored Stories, and 30-second audio ads. Each Sponsored Story was approximately two minutes in length and served to tell a personal story within the episode about the podcasters’ own lived experiences with mental health and addiction.

“Podcasting creates such a uniquely personal and intimate relationship between audiences and the hosts they love. It’s because of that trust in the host that campaigns on these highly personal topics like addiction and mental health can have such a massive impact on listeners,” said Heather Gordon, Managing Director at Acast Canada. “At Acast, we understand the importance of that personal connection for listeners and we’re able to use our innovative ad tech solutions to ensure we reach the right audiences with these important conversations.”

The next iteration of this CAMH Foundation campaign kicked off at the end of November and focuses on the holiday spirit of giving to ensure that no patients experiencing mental illness or addiction are left behind this holiday season.

Looking to the new year, CAMH Foundation continues to explore Acast podcasts for 2024 as a result of the already strong performance of this work.

To learn more about how to begin advertising with Acast, please reach out to sales@acast.com.