The Obamas Are Moving; How Inflation with Affect Your Business; A Naked Lunch With Two Guys Nobody Wants to See Naked

Yesterday marked the beginning of summer bringing with it BBQs, swim parties, and dad shorts that are objectively far too short to wear outside of the home, but fear not, you have The Influencer. This was a relatively slow week in media news, but we’ve been scuba diving through the dumpsters of the deep web to bring you the finest marketing news.

The biggest story in podcast is that the Obamas found a new home. No, we’re not talking about the 7,000-square-foot Martha’s Vinyard compound they purchased a few years back; we’re talking about their Higher Ground podcast network (The Michelle Obama Podcast and Renegades: Born in the USA, and others).

Earlier this year it was announced that The Obamas would be leaving their exclusive partnership deal with Spotify. The Obamas say they left the streaming giant to seek wider distribution of their podcasts, while Spotify says they decided to walk away from Higher Ground.

Either way, the move is interesting for two reasons. First is that some of Spotify’s multi-million dollar podcast acquisitions they made just a couple of years ago are falling apart. While some Spotify exclusives like The Joe Rogan Experience and Call Her Daddy show no sign of wear, others like Last Podcast on the Left have opted to jump out of the walled garden in an effort to make their podcasts available outside of the Spotify ecosystem.

Secondly is where the former president and first lady are taking their network. Rather than going to a giant distributor like iHeart, they’re inking the deal with Amazon’s Audible, which has been quietly building its podcast offerings for the past couple of years. In discussing the new deal, President Obama said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to partnering with them to tell stories that not only entertain but also inspire.”

The Influencer predicts that we will see similar podcast shuffling when, like this one, deals from Spotify’s massive podcast binge a couple of years ago come up for renewal. Perhaps we’ll see new players jump into the space in an effort to expand their piece of the pie. One thing is certain–podcasts are hotter than an Arizona summer.

The Classifieds

My Dinner with Phil

Everybody Loves Raymond and Somebody Feed Phil creator Phil Rosenberg, has become an iconic figure in comedy, travel, and food journalism. In his newest venture with Midroll, Rosenberg and his co-host David Wild are continuing their Netflix show’s premise by having meals with figures in the worlds of entertainment and the culinary arts. Whether they’re eating a scrumptious meal with a fellow gourmet or having a sit-down with Michelle Yeoh in Phil’s own home, the conversation flows along easily. It creates an intimate and one-of-a-kind audio experience. This podcast has recently launched and already has a collection of DR advertisers to its name. While the show most likely will skew older, it will also bring in a diverse audience made up of Netflix-watching foodies and comedy interview lovers. Like lunch, there are no free podcast drops, but if you’ve got a bit of that sweet cheddar set aside for new experiments, click below for more details.

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Victims’ Families Give Listeners An Inside Look

In a sea of new true-crime podcast options, Kast has brought us a unique show with a definitive and earnest point of view. Kim Goldman, the sister of murder victim Ron Goldman, of OJ Simpson case infamy, spends each episode looking at notorious crimes and their extensive media coverage. Similar to recent docuseries that have re-examined the narratives of past news stories and news cycles, each of these tragedies will be reframed through a lens of victim advocacy with interviews from those personally affected by both the crimes and their coverage. While the July slated show definitely sits within the true crime genre, this is also heavily recommended for clients who perform well in education and news genres or have audiences who enjoy documentaries and news programs. Contact us at the link below if interested.

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In Case You Missed It

The Obamas Make Their Move

We’ve known that the Obamas were leaving Spotify since April, but until this week, we didn’t know where they would land. In case you missed the opening of this week’s newsletter, they’re heading to Audible marking a big play for the Amazon-owned company, which is quietly positioning itself as a more significant player in the podcast industry.

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An Unfathomable New Podcast Player

Speaking of podcast platforms, a new player is entering the space with a unique advantage that could make some waves. Fathom is a first-of-its-kind podcast streaming platform that uses AI to comprehend entire podcasts. What does that mean? Let’s say you want to know how to reverse sear a steak. Fathom users can ask, “how to reverse sear a steak” and the app will scan thousands of hours of podcast content and give you the answer in the form of podcast highlight clips where the hosts and guests discuss reverse searing. Investor Jason Calacanis called Fathom “the future of podcast search.” In addition to being able to answer your most pressing questions, Fathom says the AI-based tool can aid users in discovering new podcasts based on the true content of the show, not just audience look-alikes or similar genres like Apple and Spotify’s recommendations. With Apple and Spotify representing over 60% of podcast consumption (eMarketer), it’s unfathomable that this cool new technology will be able to make much of a dent. Still it may just push the market leaders into improving and expanding their search capabilities.

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How Inflation is Hitting Main Street

Inflation is affecting everything, and eMarketer released a breakdown of which industries will feel the pinch the most.

Their chart says consumers are reducing their spending on dining out, clothing, gifts, travel, and entertainment while personal care and streaming services will feel less of an impact. In these times, marketers need to sharpen their pencils and focus on honing their ad campaigns to placements that yield the greatest return on investment. As an agency that was built on performance marketing, we know how to do just that. If you’d like to learn more, reach out by clicking here.

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This Week in Great Podcast Reads

Ryan Bailey Proves Zocdoc Is His Healthcare Go-To

One of the ways Oxford Road is committed to making the ads work is getting the best of the best podcast hosts to read our copy. We’re talking about people like Ryan Bailey, of the So Bad It’s Good podcast. You’ve gotta love a guy who can essentially put himself on the hook by stating he’s going to prove why Zocdoc is his new go-to for finding a doctor who takes his insurance by committing to using the app that week. Did he just make things interesting? Sounds like there’s a strong testimonial a-brewin’. Clearly, Ryan’s skills don’t end at talking about the pop culture news everyone loves to hate. This is what we talk about when we talk about commitment.

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