Insignia Buys Veritone’s Podcast Agency for Up to $104 Million by Ashley Carman
Investment firm Insignia Capital Group LLC has announced the acquisition of two podcast advertising agencies, purchasing Veritone One and Oxford Road. Dan Granger, CEO and founder of Oxford Road, is now CEO of both companies, which will remain separate for the time being but will eventually combine over time. While Veritone One and Oxford Road are Insignia’s first step into podcast advertising, the company’s public portfolio shows several e-commerce, retail, and marketing agency investments that could easily dovetail with podcast advertising.
Americans Are Warming Up To Advertising, Says Kantar
The latest Kantar Media U.S. Media Reactions Report finds respondents are becoming more receptive to advertising than previous editions of the study. In 2012’s version of the study, 28% of consumers had positive reactions to video ads. Now that number is up to 54%. Kantar notes a misalignment with how marketers spend their dollars, with podcasting and radio seen as lower priority for marketers despite consumers having positive attitudes toward audio advertising. Though that gap may be closing, as the study found 31% of marketers grew their podcast ad spend in 2024 and are expected to grow that spend 41% in 2025.
Top Podcast Advertisers – September 2024 Rankings
Magellan AI has published their monthly roundup of the top senders in podcast advertising as tracked by Magellan AI data. T-Mobile, BetterHelp, and Amazon make up the top three between 5 and 7 million in podcast ad spend tracked in September. Sports remains an incredibly popular genre for ad spend, with 10 of the top 11 spenders preferring it as their favorite category. For top “movers and shakers,” companies that’ve had the most significant increase in month-over-month spend, Uber, IBM, and Betterment top the chart.
According to a survey of 200 marketers by influencer agency Linqia, there is a growing preference to work with influencers who have sizable followings (defined as > 500k followers), but this leaves micro-influencers feeling left out. Agencies interviewed by Digiday encourage a multi-front approach, using large-audience influencers for brand influence while still dedicating money to small-to-midsized influencers for driving sales conversions. Podcast influencers bridge that gap, as even ‘sizeable following’ shows retain strong parasocial relationships between the hosts and their audience, allowing for leaned-in engagement on scales influencers with the same number on social media platforms can’t match.
How Podcast Advertising Helps Brands Connect With Audiences
The official Shopify blog breaks down podcast advertising to its core components to provide an educational overview of what podcast advertising is (including explanations of terms like midroll and host-read), as well as why podcast advertising works. Blogs like this are a sign the efforts of the business of podcasting is working, as companies like Shopify are able to see the benefits of podcast advertising and easily find the information necessary to write a beginner’s guide on their own. And Shopify is no stranger to podcast advertising, both through running ads and their platform, such as CodeADX’s promo code marketplace integration.
As for the rest of the news…
- Steve Raizes, EVP of Podcasting and Audio at Paramount, teased a new project focused on finding solutions to the most common issues facing the podcast industry
- Adelicious has signed the UK financial podcast I’m Rich, You’re Poor with Shabaz Ali, aka ShabazSays
- Veritonic has made significant updates to its BrandLift tool, with a focus on streamlining and enhanced customization
- AdLarge has added CIRCLE THIS with Andrea Bendewald to its fwd. network
- Wondery’s Vicki La is named one of AdAge’s 40 under 40
- Slipstream has acquired Anthem Production Music Group, making it reportedly the largest independent music licensing platform in operation.
