Before I get into the news, don’t forget Sounds Profitable has a webinar this Wednesday! Join us on Wednesday, July 30th at 2:00 p.m. EST for Tom Webster’s presentation of Driving to Action. This third section of The Advertising Landscape data examines how podcast audiences respond to ads compared to other digital and traditional channels. The findings challenge convention assumptions about podcast ad performance, promo response rates, and word-of-mouth generation. Grab your free virtual seat by registering now.
Q2 25: North America leads the way
Acast has published their second quarter report and, as the headline says, North America is performing well. According to Chief Communications and Brand Officer Lizzie Pollott’s post on LinkedIn, this is the first time the U.S. has been Acast’s largest individual market with net sales growth of 27%. Q2 2025 also marks the quarter Acast reached over half a billion USD paid out to creators since its inception in 2014.
To get back on track after the Coldplay Situation, data ops company Astronomer hired Ryan Reynolds-founded production company Maximum Effort to produce a satirical ad. The 60 second spot features Gwyneth Paltrow acting as a “temporary spokesperson” answering frequently-asked questions. Any time an on-screen question gets close to mentioning Coldplay, Paltrow cuts it off with a smile and a genuine sales pitch for a service Astronomer offers. It’s a solid piece of satire poking fun at companies trying to move past embarrassing online trends, and it communicates the humanity of the situation. Astronomer is a company of over 300 employees, regardless of where they might be vis-a-vis a CEO. I argue the ad is a solid reminder that comedy is not inherently dangerous or even unwelcome when dealing with tricky PR scenarios. When executed by professionals, it can be a saving grace.
As Ad Industry Sheds Jobs, These Agencies Are Growing—and Hiring by Audrey Kemp
A look at several newer agencies that, in spite of cost-cutting at big orgs like WPP and Interpublic Group, are actively hiring. Commonalities among the companies in question are a focus on independence and agility. For example, DEPT sells itself on being end-to-end without the many layers of internal management and communication that make up bigger holding companies. Creative agencies report clients are coming to them for the appeal of solid work with low overhead. All with a strong focus on finding mid-level and senior talent (with beefed-up internship programs to fill any junior talent gaps). Though, in a field that’s increasingly moving away from apprenticeship-style training for young employees to grow into over time, it remains to be seen if advertising is potentially looking at an industry talent drought a few years down the road.
As for the rest of the news…
- RSS.com is launching Programmatic Ads Inserted Dynamically (PAID), which enables podcasters to generate ad revenue from dynamic ad slots inserted into pre, mid, and postroll ad slots.
- The Podcast Host has gathered a list of open grants and funding opportunities in the U.K. and U.S.that podcasters could apply to. The piece aims to help out the 41% of respondents to a recent TPH survey who were unaware of grants that fund podcast production.
- WestwoodOne’s Pierre Bouvard has a new piece covering Nielsen’s Spring 2025 Portable People Meter study, which includes the projection total U.S. AM/FM radio listening is up 7%.
- Ausha’s bringing something new to the Podcast Movement expo hall this year, and a new blog details how their “PodWars” interactive experience will let attendees see how well their podcasts are capturing keywords vs. similar shows in the same niche.
- Right Side Up GM, Offline & Audio Krystina Rubino has a new LinkedIn piece looking at Fairing’s Q2 benchmarks and how they find customers mentioning AI in post-purchase surveys more and more over time.
