Today in the Business of Podcasting
Wondery launches three podcast FAST channels on Amazon Freevee by Sara Guaglione
Wondery podcasts are coming to a smart TV near you. The podcasting company is putting shows onto three free ad-supported television (FAST) channels on Amazon’s Freevee, also owned by parent company Amazon. When they go live on Halloween, the three channels will be the first Freevee channels dedicated to podcast content. Wondery has found success in producing video content of some podcasts on YouTube and is taking that experience into releasing the same content on their own video platform, featuring a mix of animation, on-camera interviews, and animated show artwork accompanying audio clips from popular Wondery properties like Business Wars and Dr. Death. Freevee will handle monetizing the podcast channels, making Freevee an early example of Wondery further integrating into Amazon’s advertising stack. [Source]
DTC Brands Experiment with Programmatic Podcast Ads but Find Mixed Results by Phoebe Bain
AdAge spoke with representatives from several DTC (direct to consumer) brands that have been experimenting with branching out from the tried-and-true direct buy of host-read advertisement into programmatic. For some it’s gone well, such as Wisp and Mint Mobile, while podcasting mainstays like ThirdLove and Manscaped had mixed results. A common thread of concern is a loss of authenticity with announcer-read ads. That said, it’s worth remembering that research shows audience preference is much closer than industry assumptions think. Sounds Profitable’s After These Messages study last year found the drop in preference between host-endorsed ads and announcer-read scripted ads was just 7%. If a podcast and the ad creative are both well-produced and contextually compliment each other, announcer-read is a powerful tool. [Source]
Here’s how our top podcasts of the year get listeners to stay by Karen Burgess
The folks at Pacific Content have gathered five branded podcasts with the commonality of heavy emphasis on storytelling, the brand is actively involved in the editorial process, and the brands put emphasis on getting the podcasts discovered. Examples of this paying off include an episode of Rocket Mortgage’s show Home. Made. with an average completion rate of 99%. Atlassian’s podcast Teamistry produced a season on the story of the Concorde jet that got coverage in The Guardian, Wired, and won Tribeca X’s first award for brand storytelling in podcast form. [Source]
McDonald’s jingle, 20 years later by Alyssa Meyers
This year McDonald’s five-note I’m Lovin’ It jingle turns 20. Marketing Brew retells the story of the short and sweet jingle, from the company’s original request for proposals to its current variations. On paper the jingle has remained the same from the famous $6 million Justin Timberlake original up through the current iteration sung by Succession star Brian Cox. One factor contributed to the sonic brand’s success is McDonald’s willingness to let celebrities and brands they partner with tweak the sound while retaining the core DNA of the jingle. An example of how sonic branding, if built well from the start and maintained over time, can have a shelf life of decades instead of months. [Source]
As for the rest of the news… Spotify’s Q3 earnings show a surprise operating profit, and MarketingBrew gives 7 main takeaways on influencer marketing from Advertiser Week New York.
