Analysis Shows How Important Digital Audio Is Becoming For Retailers
A Million Ads has conducted an analysis of over half a billion ad impressions across a three month period. Findings include a third of ad spend and impressions coming from just one category: retail. According to data from July 1st through September 30th of 2023, retail accounted for 32.5% of ad spend and impressions. Travel takes a distant second place at 15.3%. AMA CEO Steve Dunlop attributes the appeal of dynamic audio advertising for retail to audio’s targeting capabilities. The industry gives retailers the ability to personalize and target messages that connect with consumers in the moment, instead of broad catch-all creatives. [Source]
Pepsi sat out the Super Bowl broadcast this year. That’s because it was everywhere else by Alyssa Meyers
Since 2022 Pepsi has stepped aside as the sponsor of the Super Bowl halftime show, stepping back to their place as the NFL’s official soft drink. This year Pepsi also elected not to run an ad in the coveted (and expensive) Super Bowl advertising breaks. Instead, they leaned into NFL sponsorship and its “Get Wild” campaign to advertise in places physically and digitally adjacent to the big game where fans congregate. National TV spots, sponsored NFL fan events, a Candy Crush sponsorship, Pepsi has been far and wide. We asked Cameron Hendrix of Magellan AI what Pepsi has been up to in the world of podcasting during this run-up period. “Pepsi’s “Get Wild” campaign also launched on podcasts in the week leading up to the Super Bowl – Magellan AI detected pre- and mid-roll spots on more than 100 podcasts during the week of 1/29.” While the Super Bowl itself is a prestigious moment in advertising, podcasts are in the ears of die-hard fans, and as The Medium Moves the Message found last year, those audiences have a tendency to support brands that sponsor their favorite podcasts. Brands like Pepsi take full advantage of the perfect storm of sports fandom and the power of podcasting by increasing spend in the run-up to major events like the Super Bowl. [Source]
Sports Podcasts Have Best Video Opportunity Survey Finds.
New research from Morning Consult finds roughly two-thirds of sports fans say they’ve watched a video podcast in the past month. Media analyst Kevin Tran says sports video podcasts have the power to drive interest in live events, proposing the potential power if a streamer like Paramount had aired Jason and Travis Kelce’s New Heights in the run-up to the Super Bowl while it rode high on both football excitement and Taylor Swift fandom. The data also found nearly six in ten Millennials surveyed have watched a video podcast in the past month, outpacing Gen Z, X, and Boomers. [Source]
The Creator Economy: Boom Not Bust by Ross Adams
Acast CEO Ross Adams has a new post about the health of the hot-button topic of the creator economy. Throughout 2023 overall funding for startups fell, yet Goldman Sachs predicts the creator economy will reach $480 billion in value by 2027. The IAB and TalkShoppe found in their Creator Economy Report that 44% of marketers plan to increase their creator investment, with an average spend increase of 25% by the end of the year. A key to harnessing the creator economy effectively, according to Adams, is focusing on authenticity. Something podcast advertising is particularly equipped to provide. [Source]
…as for the rest of the news: a new hub for the next generation of audio journalists in Canada has launched, Veritonic has launched the self-serve Brand Lift Pulse, Audiohook has announced partnership with Sounder to enable episode-level contextual targeting for podcast ads, and AdsWizz has announced the launch of synthetic voice ads on AudioGO.
Research Database Snapshot
Source: Triton’s United States Podcast Ranker.
What it says: The latest ranking of top podcasts by average weekly downloads according to Triton Digital
What it means: Triton’s Podcast Metrics service measures participating publishers and is certified by the IAB Tech Lab
Why it’s cool: Three podcasts had significant increases last month. NPR’s Life Kit jumped 19 ranks, audioboom’s The Tim Dillon Show climbed 18 places, and Wondery’s Business Wars went up 16 spots.
