AMP Accords Go Live: Bryan Barletta Breaks Down All the Reveals

A few months ago, we revealed Oxford Road’s role in creating the Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting, or AMP. It was launched by a top-secret group of podcasting leaders who’ve spent the last year working together on new measurement standards that could help our industry evolve.

This week, we’re finally unveiling the full result of all that hard work.

The AMP task force focused on three big questions: What’s a podcast? What’s an impression? Did the ad work?

If you’re looking for the answers, turn to this week’s Media Roundtable, hosted by Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road). He’s joined by expert guests Giles Martin (EVP, Strategy, Oxford Road) and Bryan Barletta (Partner, Sounds Profitable). Together, they talk through AMP’s findings and discuss the most important question of all: What comes next?

“This is key to the whole AMP story: Any standard is better than no standard, even if it’s not exactly the standard that you want. You want to have something that is clear and consistent.” – Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road)

Once and for All: What Is a Podcast? – The podcast industry is selling a product. The problem is: If we can’t agree on what that product is, how can we get people to buy it? After plenty of debate, AMP defines a podcast as “an on-demand show rooted in the spoken word and fully intelligible as audio. Typically episodic and conversational, podcasts cover wide-ranging themes and formats. They are accessed as audio or video via open RSS feeds and other distribution methods.” If that’s too long, try this instead: “If it works with your eyes closed, it’s a podcast.”

Plays, Not Downloads – Downloads are not impressions. To convince marketers to invest, the industry needs to sell exposure, not potential. AMP’s recommended metrics are a podcast play, which occurs when a user consumes at least 30 consecutive seconds of a podcast (audio or video). AMP also defines an ad impression as happening when any portion of an ad airs for a user. Once the podcasting industry adopts these definitions, marketers will have clarity on what they’re paying for, and what they’re getting out of it.

Do The Ads Work? – AMP made several recommendations that could boost confidence in every podcast campaign. The biggest, and most easily implemented, is a randomized hold-out group for each platform. The ability to keep 5-10% of an audience as an ad-free control gives marketers a gold-standard ability to measure true incremental lift.

Clear definitions, metrics, and measurement tools are closer than ever for our industry. Help us improve podcasting by reading the AMP Accords and supporting and implementing their guidelines. For more details on the accords and their power to change our industry, check out the full episode below.