Keeping Audio Weird: The Pitfalls to Programmatic

Chief Audio Officers, the Media Roundtable’s back with a roundup of all the industry news you need to know  up this week, preserving and celebrating audio quirks.

On the host microphone again is Oxford Road Founder and CEO, Dan Granger. Joining him are fan-favorites Kyle Jelinek (Oxford Road VP of Client Strategy), James Cridland (Podnews, Podcast Business Journal), and special guest Scott MacDonell, (Former Oxford Road Managing Director and 5x Oxford Road client ).

“We’re chasing something that’s easier to transact, but not nearly as valuable as what they could be selling.” – Dan Granger, Oxford Road founder and CEO

We’re talking-stretching ad budgets through digital audio, getting IAB de-certified, the foretold rise of programmatic, and more. Let’s dig in.

• Getting with the Program(matic)? – Programmatic audio spend is expected to double by the end of 2025 to $4B. But CAOs… tread with caution: programmatic has nowhere near the impact compared to host reads – It threatens to devalue the audio content it’s interrupting by cramming it full of impersonal ads. Turning podcasts into radio with skippable ads is no one’s dream.
• This Time I Mean It… – 10 companies are in line to lose IAB certification after being uncertified for over a year. The IAB made strides in standardizing the podcast industry, maybe it’s time for an audio-specific organization to give the industry a core and preserve its unique flavor.
• YouTube’s Podcast Era ▶️ – As promised, RSS feeds are a go for YouTube. As it is for all things audio, there are some quirks and caveats. There are no dynamically inserted ads allowed, and although an October 2023 study showed YouTube as the most used channel for podcast consumption, viewing/listening habits… volume might be very different. The takeaway? For creators and CAOs, YT’s a big enough player to warrant adding it to your audio toolbelt, especially if you want a baked-in ad buy to show off a visually deserving product.

If you’re short on time, recaps of some of these stories and more are below, but for audio insights you won’t find anywhere else, tune in to the full episode by clicking one of the links below.

Watch Here

Listen Here: Spotify

Listen Here: Apple

The Classifieds

You Can Keep ‘Em For the Birds and Bees

When planning for B2B clients interested in the business genre, it’s natural to gravitate towards the same offerings time after time. Our selections this week are tried and true performers that reach underserved demographics whilst proving to be inspirational and forward-thinking. From Acast, Yo Quiero Dinero is a Latina hosted podcast about financial independence and wealth building, specifically bridging the gap between the world of finance and Latino community specificities. Host Jannese Torres has swagger, sense, and surefire knowledge which has made her a popular business coach as well as an adept interviewer. Advertisers looking to reach empowered, self-starting entrepreneurs will find infallible success, especially if looking to reach a female skew audience. This is also a great option if you’re looking to reach bilingual Latinos in the US market – heck, you may just want to tune in and learn how to rock a side hustle. Either way, see below for more information.

Get The Deal

Lift Up Your Eyes to the Heavens

You may assume that a network called Pleasure Podcasts wouldn’t see much overlap with B2B performance, but you’d be wrong. Professional Goddess Podcast is hosted by stripper turned CEO Ana Dee, and it’s as raunchy, brash, and illicit as you would hope it to be. Though listeners are often subjected to crass language and sexual innuendo, every episode also features universal advice on personal finance, client relationships, revenue streams, and content creation. Ana has a candid reverence for her audience base and showcases a daring sense of personal fulfillment in her work. Her audience is predominantly Gen Z women in their twenties, and they often vibe with her big sister style advice and straightforward approach. Advertisers that have the best success on this offering are often subscription-based or work within the ecommerce industry. Whether your personal Greek god is Aphrodite or Plutus, you have a good reason to click the link below.

Get The Deal

In Case You Missed It

Does Podcast Need the IAB?

Turns out that ten podcast companies are still not certified for the latest version of IAB podcast measurement guidelines v2.1, in spite of being asked to do so by the end of 2022. More than a year later, the IAB’s list of compliant companies still shows AdsWizz, Anchor (now Spotify), Buzzsprout, Captivate, Chartable, Libsyn, Megaphone, Podbean, Podtrac and Simplecast as only compliant to v2.0 of the guidelines, meaning “they will lose current status”, according to the IAB Tech Lab.
While some of the companies on IAB’s naughty list are publishers and may not see the need to jump through IAB’s compliance hoops, it begs the question of whether there’s a need for IAB compliance in the podcast marketplace at all. In this week’s podcast, guest James Cridland mentions the potential for a podcast-focused entity (not unlike the radio-focused RAB) to pick up the ball and run with it.

Read More

Stretch Lean Ad Budgets with Digital Audio

This next article from Retail TouchPoints reads like an advertisement to CAOs for digital audio. Marketing executives face budget constraints, with 71% of CMOs feeling insufficient budgets for advertising strategies, and US ad spending is expected to rise by 5.1% in 2024. Diversifying budgets with omnichannel media, such as digital audio, is touted as a cost-effective solution.
Retail Media Networks (RMNs) leveraging programmatic platforms like The Trade Desk can monetize shopping data, with global management giant, McKinsey, estimating RMNs contributing $100 billion to ad spend by 2026. While digital audio offers high engagement, only 3% of ad dollars were spent on it in 2023, presenting an untapped opportunity for RMNs. But these efficiencies extend past the retail segment, which is probably why Podcast News Daily says 8 out of 10 marketers expect to increase or maintain their spend on audio advertising in 2024. CAO’s, if you’re tasked with making your ad budgets do more with less, Digital Audio looks better and better.

Read More

Brand-Safe News Content You Can Trust

News/Politics may well be one of the best-performing genres in the podcast space, yet many advertisers steer clear due to potential concerns around brand safety. An analysis from AI-driven insights and solution company, Sounder, reveals that NPR’s news shows offer brands a safer environment than the general news podcasting population offers. NPR’s commitment to high-quality content is evident, with 81% classified as unrelated or low risk for sensitive topics, compared to the 54% industry average.
NPR avoids graphic discussions, with 13% fewer medium risk sensitive topics and only 2.3% categorized as high risk graphic discussions. This presents NPR as a more trustworthy option for brand sponsorships. Brands who want as-close-to-perfect brand safety should consider NPR – but note that without a personalized endorsement from a strong, opinionated, (loud-mouth) host from some of the more polarizing content in this space, it may be harder to generate ROI on this network. CAOs, if you’re looking to tap into this content, without opening a hornet’s nest of brand-safety concerns, we have the tools to help; reach out to us HERE.

Read More

#SaveTheLiveReads

2024 is the Year of Prioritizing Health!

Wondering what the most important step is to set yourself up for success this year? It’s taking care of your health, of course! And there’s no one better to speak about it than Brianna Chickenfry and Grace O’Malley from their podcast, PlanBri Uncut, laying out the 411 on Zocdoc. These gals are masters in the art of Oxford Road’s Audiolytics™ key component #1…THE SETUP! Their attention-grabbing BFF banter and enthusiasm immediately has listeners hanging onto every word. You won’t have to work hard to grasp the important info. These ladies lay out the value prop excitedly and then drive it home with their own substantiation of Zocdoc.
What could be more encouraging than a real person talking about how they had no options for a doctor and then suddenly found a service with all the options in the world – PLUS the possibility of same day or next day appointments?! It’s a beautiful demonstration of the planning and matching done by our coordinators at Oxford Road, to put the right hosts with the right brands, facilitating impressions that lead to more business and satisfied customers!

Listen Here

Contact us for a Consultation