The Source Magazine Founder, Dave Mays Brings Bag of Tricks to Media Roundtable, Sharp Foretells the Death of Brands; Slashing The Pink Tax

A marketers’ job is to build communities around a love for their product or service. One of the fastest ways to accomplish this goal is to seek out those who devote their lives to serving communities that align with your brand, and locking arms with them.

This is where this week’s guest Dave Mays’ story starts. When he was a sophomore at Harvard, Mays started a single-page newsletter to serve the hip-hop community he loved with a pipe dream of becoming hip-hop’s answer to Rolling Stone.

With millions of readers, a notorious annual awards ceremony, a nationally syndicated radio show, a clothing line, as well as being the first entrepreneur to introduce hip-hop to Madison Avenue, Mays’ fanzine The Source became an institution. Now, Mays turns his gaze to the world of Podcast with the new multi-media network, Breakbeat Media, built to serve and engage with the interests and perspectives of the hip-hop audience.

Whether it was The Source’s unsigned talent column that led to discovering cultural icons like Biggie, DMX, Eminem, Common, and countless others, consciously working to deescalate the East Coast-West Coast rivalry in the ‘90s, or his new podcast network, serving the community he loves has guided Mays’ decision-making from day one.

For anyone who’s interested in authentically marketing in a way that will be embraced by a community, Breakbeat Media offers a point of entry to reach the hip-hop community, and this episode is a great first step to find your way in.

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The Classifieds

New Network Brings Halloween Vibes All Year Round Summary

Yes, it’s Halloween, but Podcast’s most frightening genre thrives 52 weeks of the year. True Crime junkies listen on the edge of their seats and hang onto every word of each show, which is why it’s amongst the top-performing genres here at Oxford Road. The Evergreen company has launched a new network dedicated to this genre with a collection of 9 existing true crime, paranormal, conspiracy, and investigative podcasts now all under one network with a fitting name: Killer Podcasts. The network is ready to make cut-throat deals on new advertisers, so for those not faint of heart, learn more by clicking below.

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Scary Stories For Creepy Kids Summary

Continuing with the spirit of the season, or spirits, this new title caught our eye. Scary Stories for Creepy Kids is a show true to its name. It features scary stories written by kids, told by kids, and intended for kids. In fact, kids are encouraged to submit their own scary stories to be featured on the podcast. Believe it or not, kid-focused podcasts aren’t just for kid products and services. In fact, they have been a top performer from b2b advertisers. Busy parents listen to these shows along with their children, so while the ads may go over the kids’ heads, the parents pay attention and take action. If you’re seeking spooky new ingredients for your marketing formula, come sample this potion.

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In Case You Missed It

Chilling Stats On Global Podcast Listening

Because of the success they’ve seen in the channel here in the U.S., many advertisers are seeking to expand their Podcast presence globally.   Released last week, eMarketer’s new report highlights the rapid growth of listenership in the platform across 18 markets around the world and shares what’s to come.
Key Stats:

• Podcasts are most popular in English-speaking and English-proficient countries.
• North America and Asia-Pacific have the most podcast listeners but wildly vary in adoption among their populations.
• Several emerging markets are growing their podcast listener base rapidly, particularly in Latin America.

This one’s actually behind a paywall, but if you’d like to know more, we’d be happy to share. Email us to learn more.

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Brands Need to Stop Freaking Themselves Out

Branding, not blanding. Warning of a ‘cultural cringe’ and sense of insecurity within marketing, Professor Byron Sharp is calling on marketers to stop the self-hatred and have more pride in their profession, as reported by Marketing Week’s Michaela Jefferson. Speaking at the Festival of Marketing last week, Sharp, director of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute and long-time critic of brand purpose, argued that from a branding perspective, the widespread adoption of social purpose could lead to brands becoming too similar and consequently being picked off by private labels. Instead, Sharp suggests marketers should have more self-confidence and belief in the good marketing does in the world by itself without seeking a higher purpose.

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Audio Casts its Spell Over a Generation

If Pepsi can name a generation why can’t a CMO? During Advertising Week in New York, SiriusXM and Pandora Chief Marketing Officer Denise Karkos told agencies and brand marketers about how shifting listening trends have created “Generation Audio”, where audio content has moved out of just our automobiles and into every aspect of our lives. The point is, audio is having a resurgence and when they write the Wikipedia entry about who benefited during the pandemic “Audio” will be in alphabetical order right after “Amazon”. Now is the time to define your brand’s sound and stake your claim during the sonic land grab.

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This Week in Great Podcast Reads

Great Ad for This New Slashing Device

Declaring war against Rite Aid, Duane Reed, and every other store that sells overpriced razors to women, the hosts of The Hot Mess Comedy Hour are fighting the “Pink Tax” on their recent ad read for female-focused razor company, Billie. The ad, which ran for over three minutes highlighted all of the client’s copy points in a way that only comedian hosts, Andrea Allan and Emily Lubin can do–with plenty of F-Bombs! If you need a razor, go to MyBillie.com. If you need a great podcast read like this one, go to OxfordRoad.com.

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OXFORd In The News

Giles Martin Delivers Basket of Brain Candy in State of Voice Report

Curious about the latest innovation in voice-enabled audio advertising? Oxford Road’s Head of Insights Giles Martin emerges from his Wizard Lair and shares his thoughts with Instreamatic for their voice AI report, out today. The report includes case studies from Pizza Hut, Infiniti Research Ltd., as well as quotes from execs at Pandora, Mindshare, GroupM, and others. Key takeaway? Brands can stop talking at their customers and start listening to them.

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