Manners Save America - Comedy Duo Explains How; WABC = Old AF; Spotify Podcasts Find Exit; Cove Cures Lives

What can manners teach you about marketing? Based on this week’s episode, quite a lot. Emmy Award-winning journalist Nick Leighton and stand-up comic Leah Bonnema are the creators of the hit podcast Were You Raised By Wolves? a show about etiquette and manners in everyday life, and they join The Media Roundtable to connect what mamma taught you to a sound business strategy.

The Media Roundtable exists to encourage civility in our national discourse–Leah and Nick have found a way to further that same mission in personal interactions through honesty and setting polite, yet firm boundaries. Coincidentally, their ability to set those same boundaries as a brand is what makes them so valuable to advertisers. For one, they only partner with companies they believe are a fantastic fit for their audience, and (even more important) they actually believe in.

As a result, Leah and Nick have tapped into hidden universal experiences to create a truly sticky podcast with a deeply engaged fanbase.

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The Classifieds

The Airforce 2 of Podcasts

With tried and true performers like West Wing Weekly and Office Ladies, ‘TV Rewatch’ is one of the highest-performing genres for the performance marketers we work with here at Oxford Road. Because of the success of this subgenre, we’re now seeing an influx of similar shows filling your podcast suggestion inbox. Case in point, Kast Media’s new watch-along podcast, Second in Command based on HBO’s Veep. Each week, Veep co-stars Matt Walsh and Timothy Simons will dive into a rewatch of a new episode to see if they can remember what actually happened on set. From on-set memories to interviews with cast & crew, Veep fans will get a behind-the-scenes look into the hit show. We highly recommend testing this show for any clients looking to reach what is likely an educated and higher-income audience.

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The Stars Align

In our “Classifieds” section, we usually feature the latest podcasts that catch our ear. This week, we’re expanding horizons to feature an opportunity from SiriusXM. This holiday season, SXM “STARS” Channel will be featuring the platform’s top 100 interviews of 2021. This special year-end event will be hosted by Jess Cagle and Julia Cunningham and will feature a compilation of the year’s best interviews with the biggest names in pop culture, entertainment, and sports, as heard on SiriusXM over the past year. Oxford Road clients with consumer products typically perform best on these lifestyle format channels, so we highly recommend integrating your brand with live reads, sponsorships, and other elements offered as part of this opportunity. But don’t wait too long – the deadline for integrations is November 1st!

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In Case You Missed It

Spotify Exclusivity Exodus Ahead?

Comedy-horror podcast The Last Podcast on the Left announced Tuesday that they are walking away from the exclusive partnership they signed with Spotify in 2019 to join SiriusXM’s Stitcher; the second podcast to exit such a deal. The move is a sign of the growing competition for talent in the podcast space as audio streaming sites work to draw larger audiences. While the show says they learned a lot from Spotify over the past two years, they are seeking to reach larger audiences, which can be a challenge as Spotify-owned shows typically can only reach ⅓ of the podcast listenership because they’re not distributed on other platforms. For hosts like those on TLPOTL who rely on touring, reach is key, and Spotify is not delivering. Is this the beginning of a mass exodus from Spotify’s exclusive partnerships? Perhaps. The Influencer will make you wise.

Which Podcast Genres Have The Biggest Reach & Overlap

Excuse me, but your reach is overlapping. At least, that’s what this chart from Nielsen says. With 41% of Americans listening to podcasts each month and the average listener downloading seven shows per week, do you really need a chart to know a news podcast listener also listens to other podcasts? How about a chart with PERFORMANCE data about what WORKS? We have those. Let us know if you’d like to see ours.

Brand. Sonic Brand

The Bond of Audio. The James Bond film franchise released its latest installment, after a long wait, this past weekend. While it may have launched with a measly $56m at the box office, the iconic sound of the James Bond melody was there, as it’s been for decades. “Nearly 60 years since Vic Flack was paid just £6 to strum the famous reverb-filled guitar riff, the Bond theme still manages to evoke simultaneous waves of nostalgia and excitement without sounding dated.” With audio on the rise everywhere, all the time, it’s a missed opportunity if your brand doesn’t have an instantly recognized sound. Are we talking jingles here? A distinct sound? A duck quacking “Aflac”? Yes. Because you can’t build 60 years of nostalgia if you never start. Let us help.

NYC Iconic Radio Station Turns 100

Your great-grandpa’s radio station is having a birthday. New York radio powerhouse, WABC is celebrating 100 years of broadcasting with a year-long celebration that will feature special guests, interviews, milestones, and remembrances. Just part of their unique history includes when Rush Limbaugh launched his first radio show back in 1988. This audio thing has been around for a while and has a rich history. While technology continues to reshape the way we live, much stays the same. In audio advertising, the deep personal connections hosts create with their audiences and their listeners’ desire to be entertained, informed, get motivated, or simply relax have been a constant for a century. At Oxford Road, we agree with Mark Twain, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”

A Better Quality of Life Through Science

It’s always great when we can find hosts who are interested in the products we ask them to endorse. It’s even better when they truly need them. Last week, host Lynette Carolla and Stefanie Wilder from For Crying Outloud shared their intimate experience of needing to find a solution for their migraines and lauded our sponsor Cove as a solution for listeners who suffer from these debilitating headaches. In the planning process, Oxford Road sought out hosts that had suffered from migraines, and the hosts from this show were amongst the first to raise their hand. This read is an example of how media planning and creative execution can join forces to create a partnership that not only drives performance for clients but rings true to the listeners.

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If you’ve read this far, thank you!

The Influencer is a production from the team at Oxford Road.
If you like our sometimes sassy, mostly informed POVs on the wonderful world of audio advertising, you should see what we do for our clients.

Interested in seeing how we could help your business?
Contact us at influencer@oxfordroad.com!