Media Roundtable: Industry Edition - October 5

This week, on the Media Roundtable: Industry Edition, the agents of influence are tackling key metrics: what’s a sham and what’s worth shelling out for. Listen up to avoid pulling a Wanamaker.

Leading the charge is Oxford Road’s VP of Creative Services, Stew Redwine, along with fellow Oxford Road experts Kristen Duenas, Neal Lucey, and James Ingrassia.

Also bringing deep insider knowledge is special guest Alyssa Meyers, a reporter at Morning Brew’s always insightful Marketing Brew Newsletter. (A great subscribe–it will easily be your second favorite marketing newsletter).

At the top of everyone’s mind:

• Gaming the System – Mobile game ads = junk podcast downloads?
• “You had my curiosity, but now…” – What kind of attention is worth paying extra for?
• Sorry, Dan Carlin – How long is the perfect podcast?
• The Most Interesting Fake Man in the World? Fictional characters are shilling for real products.

Short on time? A recap of each topic is shared below, but for industry insights you won’t get anywhere else, hear the full episode by clicking the link below.

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Podcasters Gaming the System?

Back in August, Marketing Brew broke a story about how some publishers were inflating their numbers by purchasing ads in mobile games like Subway Surfers. Using a practice called “rewarded inventory,” players earn in-game rewards for sitting through advertisements or, in this case, scrolling through articles. Last week, it came to light that some Podcast networks may be doing the same thing. Each time a player taps on one of these fleeting in-game ads—a podcast episode begins downloading on their device. The podcast company, in turn, can claim the gamer as a new listener to its program and add another coveted download to its overall tally.

The fact that this is happening raises major questions about the definition of a “listen” and, subsequently, the value of ads served to those listeners. As you can imagine, we are taking this matter seriously and investigating independently and in-depth with any vendor who is considered involved in such practices. Though ultimately, inflated impressions aren’t affecting performance marketers to the degree it does brand advertisers, the integrity and performance of our media campaigns are of utmost importance. We will continue to update here and directly with our advertisers as we get to the bottom of this issue.

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Paying for Attention

At the Mi3-LinkedIn B2B Next Summit last month, Professor Byron Sharp broadsided marketers in  an attempt to bring them back to the “fundamentals of advertising.” In his presentation, Sharp commented, “our job is to get some attention…I don’t want to do advertising and not be seen. But after that, paying for a lot more? No.” In response, marketing doctor Mark Ritson wrote an opinion piece for MarketingWeek, that stood counter to Sharp’s assessment and presented evidence on the viewability and dwell time of different media. Ultimately, Ritson presented a case that view-time correlates with recall and (brand) choice.

So is it worth it to pay more attention? If so, when is it worth paying a premium for media? At Oxford Road, our view is, yes, there is value in paying more for attention; after all, our job is to get our client’s ads noticed, and it matters if consumers are paying attention. Consumer attention is a key component in the effectiveness of Podcast advertising, which has a CPM much higher than other forms of audio advertising, yet often outperforms them.

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Podcast Episodes Are Getting Shorter

How long is the typical Podcast? According to podcast data company Rephonic, it’s 37 minutes and getting shorter. In the continual evolution of the podcast space, where content creators have complete control over the length of the shows they’re producing, it’s fascinating that things are continually moving towards the standards TV set decades ago. The 30-min sitcom was not by accident, and while long-form holdouts like Hardcore History still clocking in episodes that are hours long, the trend towards shorter content will likely prevail. For podcast advertisers, we see the trend as promising, making the medium more seeker-friendly while allowing podcast consumers to listen to more shows. Assuming those selling advertising on these shows don’t cram more commercials into a smaller window, shorter content should fare well.

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The 5th, 6th, and 7th “P’s” Of Marketing?

Looks like there may be three more P’s hitting your marketing arsenal, and they’re “Podcast Product Placement”. Scripted fiction podcasts are playing with the idea of including what they call “in-universe brand creative,” which is basically product placements we’ve come to see in TV and movies for years played out in podcast form. Characters within fictional podcast worlds are ordering products like Bud Light, Johnnie Walker, and HEB, who have already tested the platform for its viability. The question is, how do you measure the success of these types of placements? Our take is it generally takes the form of a brand study but is very difficult to measure accurately.

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If Tell You, I Have to Kill You

Everyone is jumping into the Podcast space, and now, the least probable organization you could think of is climbing on board. For its 75th anniversary, the CIA is launching its first podcast, The Langley Files, which shows the less glamorous side of the agency that has been shrouded in mystery and intrigue by Hollywood for years. Is it a PR effort? A recruitment effort? Who knows at this point, but we can all agree that this is of interest to the general public–it even made it onto SNL last week.

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