Advancing Brand Safety in Podcast Advertising
From March 26th – 29th, AdsWizz took on a key sponsorship role at Podcast Movement Evolutions 2024. Podcast Movement Evolutions is the leading conference brand for podcasters and industry experts, aimed at fostering growth in individual shows, the podcasting community, and the industry.
Our private meeting space served as a hub for insightful discussions, highlighting our commitment to elevating podcast advertising through our cutting-edge technology solutions.
AdsWizz Technology Spotlighted at Podcast Movement Evolutions
Targeted Podcast Advertising Solutions
Our targeted podcast advertising solutions offer a wide range of premium and niche podcasts through partnerships with top publishers, enabling broad reach and precise targeting for advertisers with features like automated host-read ads and second-screen retargeting. For example, AdsWizz’s Predictive Audiences, a cookie-free targeting capability, utilizes podcast content consumption to identify over 300 audience personas, ensuring ads connect with the intended audience.
Brand Safety Solutions
AdsWizz enhances brand safety by providing advertisers control over ad placements to match suitable content and audiences. This technology ensures ads align with audience interests and brand values using advanced tools to analyze podcast content for relevant keywords, topics, and sentiments. The platform integrates Comscore data for precision and has partnered with HUMAN Security for Invalid Traffic Filtering (IVT), preventing ad fraud by ensuring ads reach real people, protecting investment, and optimizing ROI.
“At Podcast Movement Evolutions, building buyers trust and balancing brand suitability were top of mind for presenters and attendees. Podcasters understand that these are no longer nice to haves, but rather table stakes for a show or network to grow and succeed in today’s modern podcast ecosystem.”
-Justine Benjamin, Head of Global Marketing
The Power of Context: Brand Safety, Measurement, and Verification in Podcasting
Our very own Maria Breza joined industry leaders for a panel to discuss how the industry can bring more transparency to podcasting with brand safety and suitability verification solutions and, with them, help bring the audio ad marketplace into parity with video and display.
Panelists included:
- Bryan Barletta – Partner at Sounds Profitable (Moderator)
- Caleb Mansfield – VP, Partner Success at ArtsAI
- Tamara Zubatiy – Co-Founder and CEO at Barometer
- Maria Breza – VP of Ad Quality Measurement & Audience Data Operations at AdsWizz and SiriusXM Media
Top Takeaways from the Panel
Opportunity Gap in Podcast Advertising
Although podcasting accounts for 31% of media consumption, it attracts less than 9% of advertising dollars, revealing a vast area for expansion. Our industry should frame this discrepancy not as a grievance but as a pivotal opportunity for strategic investment.
From Show Sponsorships to Sophisticated Audience Targeting
The podcast advertising industry faces scalability and brand safety challenges. Large brands are moving towards audience-based buying rather than specific show sponsorships, necessitating content verification for safety. This shift toward advanced audience targeting leverages cutting-edge content analysis tools and integrates CRM tools for precise targeting, moving beyond traditional sponsorships toward scalable and efficient advertising strategies.
Nuances of Brand Safety and Brand Suitability
The panelists differentiated between brand safety (content unsuitable for any advertiser) and brand suitability (content that may or may not align with specific advertiser preferences), underscoring the importance of tools and standards that allow for nuanced content alignment and advertiser-specific targeting.
Real-Time Verification and Campaign Adjustment
The discussion highlighted the critical role of real-time data in making campaign adjustments, underscoring that instant feedback mechanisms allow advertisers to refine their strategies according to performance metrics and content suitability, fostering a more dynamic and effective approach to podcast advertising.
Maria Breza on the Evolving Issue of Brand Safety and Content Suitability
“Part of the pleasure of podcasting is feeling like you’re having a conversation with a friend instead of consuming mass-produced content. It is a powerful environment for an advertiser to meet the consumer with their message. But if the advertiser insists on having perfectly clean content with no profanity of any kind, they’re really cutting off a whole bunch of reach. So my question to them would be: have you truly thought about the podcast medium, and is that what you want to be doing? It comes up a lot as well with true crime and violence. So many brands often say no violence, no guns, no arms, no ammunition…and then they don’t run on any true crime, and that may not have been their intent..”
Looking Ahead
Podcast Movement Evolutions 2024 was an exceptional opportunity that allowed us to deepen our connections within the podcasting community and further empower brands to succeed in their podcast advertising endeavors.
Did you miss us at Podcast Movement Evolutions? Contact us today to learn more about our offerings or to schedule a meeting with our team.
by Daniel Einhorn, Senior Manager, Content Marketing
