Throwing Down The Gauntlet: Seven Challenges to The Podcast Industry in 2022; Reese Witherspoon Releases the Sunshine; Spotify Plays the CTA Card

By: Dan Granger

A neon sign hangs in our office that reads, “Here’s What We Need to Do.” At Oxford Road, our agency business depends on us being a consultancy as much as a service provider. So the quality of our recommendations is the most valuable asset we bring to the market. Besides, everyone has already put out their ’22 predictions, and predictions are only as good as the action they spark. We’re in the performance business and much more concerned with outcomes, so let’s try something new. 

These are the seven key initiatives that would demonstrably expand and optimize the podcast industry in 2022 presented as headlines we wish would be published before this time next year: 

1. Top Podcast Networks Join to Create Standard Disclosures for the advertising community
2. Host Read Ads Include Category Exclusivity as Standard Feature
3. Networks Drop “Forced Combo” on All Ad Buys
4. Local News Outlets Join Together to Form Regional Podcast Networks
5. Meta launches Promotion Tools, Allowing Creators to Grow Audience Through Facebook Ads
6. Top Podcast Companies Offer Airchecks and Transcripts Standard for All Advertisers
7. Podcast Industry Gets Serious About Brand Safety, Releases Content Ratings

At Oxford Road, we have already created or are in the development of some of these solutions for our clients and will have updates to announce throughout the year. Others are of high interest but not yet on our road map for development and execution. If you read something that connects, I invite you to reach out to me to discuss. We’re happy to collaborate with anyone who wants to protect and evolve our industry.

Dan

The Classifieds

Like Senior Year,Except Funnier

You can trust there’s no big little lies here: iHeartMedia and Reese Witherspoon’s media brand Hello Sunshine are producing their first podcast together; to launch January 22nd. Hello Sunshine has amassed considerable media attention and acclaim in recent years, as both a production hub for shows like The Morning Show and Little Fires Everywhere, and the backer of the wildly successful Reese’s Book Club. One of those included authors is podcast host Eve Rodsky, a Harvard-trained lawyer and New York Times bestselling author of Fair Play and Find Your Unicorn. The second impressive host is Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, an expert on stress burnout and mental health from Harvard Medical School. Similar podcasts, hosted by female authors and life coaches, have performed especially well for our performance-focused clients, and with Hello Sunshine’s track record of success, this one is poised for success. If interested just walk the line and follow the link below for details.
Get The Deal

Fraudsters, Con Artists and Scammers, Oh My!

Our partners at Sony have announced the launch date for the newest season of Chameleon. Based on the boom in scammer documentary content (Fyre Festival, Anna Delvey, Elizabeth Holmes, WeWork), the podcasting space has made considerable room for this new subset in the true crime genre. Every season Chameleon deconstructs an infamous scam, and details the moments of indecency and greed that turned everyday stories of desperation into newborn legends. To be launched January 15th, this eight-episode limited season follows the 2003 case of the “Bush Boys”, who duped the world into thinking they were raised in the wilderness of British Columbia, whilst actually being suburban runaways. This is a great chance to test Sony’s limited series model and dip your toe into the true crime genre. No need to blend in, stand out, and reach out for details on this upcoming show.

Get The Deal

In Case You Missed It

Spotify Steps Up CTA

Last week at CES, Spotify announced a potentially game-changing technology, the “Call To Action Card”. Now, within the Spotify app, advertisers have the ability to share a visual ad when their audio ads begin to play. At first glance, this seems like nothing more than what audio streaming platforms like iHeart have been offering for years, but what makes this unique is that the visual ad will remain available for up to seven days after the listener has heard the ad, giving listeners the ability to go back and respond, and advertisers the ability to track the traffic back to the podcast read. The cards will run across Mobile, Tablet and Desktop. Spotify has not added this automatically, so advertisers have to opt-in as added value. Spotify currently cannot measure the CTA cards on a creative level at the moment, so all measurement must be applied via their standard podcast measurement solutions, including pixel tracking. We’re actively exploring this new opportunity and will keep readers apprised on the results.

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Podcast Not Finding New Hits 

Despite the vast growth of Podcasts in the past few years, strangely, there haven’t been any new, big hits. According to a recent article on Bloomberg, the average age of podcasts in the top ten is 7 years, and no podcast in the top ten is newer than 2 years old. According to the article, the reason for the lack of new hits is that the number of new podcasts has grown more quickly than the podcast audience, and so the number of listeners per new show is going down. Moreover, with multiple platforms and exclusive content, discovering new shows is harder than ever. As the industry scrambles to find the next Joe Rogan, the takeaway for advertisers in the space is that the tried and true shows that have built their podcast portfolio remain the leaders and show no sign of slowing down. And while new shows may not be making a splash in the charts, we’re actively testing everything that shows promise and sharing the results with our clients and on this blog.

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As The Cookie Crumbles Pt. 2

The imminent death of the tracking cookie will remain an issue for nearly all marketers as we approach 2023. Therefore, The Influencer will continue to share the most up-to-date information and potential solutions for our readers. Last week, Jorge Poyatos, Co-CEO, and Co-founder, of Seedtag published an article on what his company is doing to help advertisers in a cookieless world. Seedtag’s solution is Contextual targeting using Artificial intelligence (AI). According to Poyatos, their technology gathers information from areas such as web page sentiment, the nuance of the language being used, tone of images and video, and will publish creatives that best fit the context in which it is being served. They claim that as a result, audiences are provided with relevant and engaging content without sacrificing their privacy. How is your brand planning on tackling the death of the cookie? Please share your comments by emailing theinfluencer@oxfordroad.com

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This Week in Great Podcast Reads

An Easy Healthcare Upgrade

Leave it up to a podcast like Upgrade, a show that explores how new tech shapes our lives, to find the latest, and possibly most-effective solution, for accessing healthcare in these complicated times. The free app Zocdoc, makes finding a doctor and booking an appointment easier than ever, and if you’re anything like host Myke Hurley, when you want to see a doctor you want to see a doctor now. After all, what better upgrade can you make this year than one that benefits your health? Myke Hurley hosts Upgrade with sidekick Jason Snell each week to break down the latest in technology. In addition, Myke hosts a slew of other shows on his podcast network Relay FM.

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