A Week Off for The Media Podcasts for Hispanic Heritage Month; Podcasts Ain’t What They Used To Be; Adam Levine Impropriety = Advertising Gold

As the Southeast prepares for Ian’s most unwelcome arrival, and the crisp fall air starts to hit other parts of the country, buckle up! We’re all plowing like a freight train into Q4 and onward into 2023.

This first autumnal edition of The Influencer is an off-week for our Media Roundtable podcast, but we’re still hard at work, bringing you the media news you need to know as you sip on your 3rd pumpkin latte of the day.

In honor of Hispanic heritage month, this week’s classified section highlights two podcasts that should be considered by all podcast advertisers, especially those looking to expand their reach to a multicultural audience.

In media news this week you may have missed, we’ve got a few stories that cover everything from a media exec. setting the record straight on digital audio measurement to how to use celebrity missteps in your creative and more.

Finally, we share a great example of how getting creative with finding a personal connection between brand and host can have some massive payoffs in ad performance.

In all seriousness, our thoughts go out to those affected by the hurricane – stay safe. Thanks for reading; feel free to finish the pumpkin roll as you peruse the rest of this week’s edition.

The Classifieds

Todo Buena Onda

From September 25th through October 25th, the United States celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, a timeframe that highlights ten different countries’ independence days. To embrace this incredible example of our country’s strength in diversity, we will showcase two podcasts hosted by Hispanic/Latino hosts. Our first selection comes from the podcast network Pitaya, which is entirely dedicated to producing podcasts for Latinos in the United States. The comedy stars Joanna Hausmann and Jenny Lorenzo host weekly episodes highlighting current news items, cultural idiosyncrasies, and hilarious moments related to their everyday lives as second-generation Latinas working in the comedy industry. Lookalikes include agency-wide high performers in genres such as society & culture, literature, and female-hosted comedy. Grab a spoon for this melting pot by clicking the link below.

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Futuro Mainstay Continues Journalistic Excellence

Maria Hinojosa is an Emmy-winning journalist and the host of Market Enginuity’s long-running podcast on Latinos living in the United States. Every week Hinojosa’s authoritative voice narrates stories of the Latino community’s bravery, innovation, pain, and prosperity. This investigative podcast parallels similar monoliths, such as This American Life and The Daily while clearly emphasizing the specific issues that affect Hispanic and Latino citizens. Recent episodes have covered the history of the little black dress, the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico, and the creation of The National Museum of the American Latino. Advertisers who perform well on NPR and Market Enginuity shows will find surefire success with this offering, as well as those looking to reach a more multicultural audience. Join the conversation by looking below for more information.

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In Case You Missed It

Podcast is Radio

Adnan Syed, from the true-crime podcast Serial, was vacated last week after serving more than 20 years in prison on murder charges. The news has those of us in the industry reminiscing about the cultural phenomenon that was Serial and many asking if something monumental could happen again. . The previous guest on Media Roundtable and generally one of the most opinionated people in Podcast, Nick Quah thinks it’s a bygone era. In a thought piece written by Quah for Vulture last week, the Podcast critic laments all about the good ol’ days of podcasting and how it will never go back to the way it was. But is this a bad thing? Podcast as high art may be dying and is slowly evolving into Radio, but that’s great news for advertisers. From where we stand, the channel has more listeners than ever, targeting and trackability have never been more robust, and interest from brands is at an all-time high. But long-term readers of The Influencer should have seen this coming. We’ve been talking about for years.

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Taming The Wild West

On the other side of the “Podcast has become radio” coin, we share a story from AdAge that proves the point from a radio guy himself. Ken Lagana is the EVP of Digital Sales over at Audacy, leading strategy in the areas of Audacy’s streaming app and their extensive podcast network. Ken shares a reportedly true story where a prospective advertiser said, “Podcasting is still the Wild West, I can’t measure and attribute. I can’t really target audiences.” Throughout the rest of the article, Lagana breaks down why this objection to digital audio advertising, including Podcasts, is completely dead but then proceeds to turn the whole thing into an Audacy sales pitch. The takeaway for you, dear reader is this; if you think like Lagana’s “client” that digital is still the Wild West, you’re about five years behind in your thinking. Let’s get you up to speed.

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It’s Getting Harder and Harder to Breathe

Unless you’re the lead singer of Maroon 5, something very funny is happening in the social media side of advertising right now. The release of salacious leaked texts from Adam Levine has set the meme machine into high gear, and even big brands are jumping on board. Kraft’s Velveeta, KFC, Jimmy John’s, and Denny’s, among others, are taking to social media for their chance to be a part of the conversation. Influencer readers, what do you think–Low blow or capitalizing on an opportunity? Let us know your thoughts by clicking here. For more advertising fun, last month, Jack in the Box gave Luke Skywalker his job back for a day. It’s old but worth a watch if you have time.

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This Week in Great Podcast Reads

Who Doesn’t Love a Good Mystery Box?

Sometimes finding an authentic connection between a brand and a show host is simple. Other times, you have to get creative. Take our advertiser Battlbox, for example. They offer a monthly subscription box full of survival gear, outdoor gadgets, and more that would make any outdoorsy type really happy – but it’s not for everyone. However, the host of The Steve Deace Show is the first to say that he’s not all that “manly” (his words, not ours) and while he appreciates what Battlbox has to offer, speaking to survival gear is not really within his wheelhouse. But this doesn’t stop the show from delivering one of the most honest and authentic reads ever. After tapping out,  Steve hands things over to his producer Aaron who shares his experience and goes on to rave about how BattlBox equips you with hand-picked outdoor, survival, and everyday gear that you don’t have to be a survivalist to appreciate. So despite not having a direct angle into a personal endorsement, we’ve been able to navigate the challenge and come up with a solution that’s better than it could have been otherwise. As a result, the show is one of the best-performing podcasts BattlBox has ever tested.

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