Monthly Archives: March 2023

Five Podcast Pros Offer the Insider Scoop

advertising, business, Episodes, marketing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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In a spontaneous episode I discussed five different aspects of the business of podcasting – from using AI to “audio or video?”, to leveraging the star power and engagement power of podcasting.

You’ll hear from:

  • Michael Kaye, Director of Brand & Communications for OkCupid, an online dating app;
  • Brandon Reed, Host, formerly tired dad, and creator of 12 Hour Sound Machines, a viral podcast that helps people sleep;
  • Bona Rai, COO and Co-founder of Capsho, the tool that helped E.B. use AI to generate these very show notes (!);
  • Chris Whitman, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of GlassBox Media, think ‘music label-meets-podcast marketing machine’; 
  • A.J. Feliciano, Head of The Roost Podcast Network from Warner Bros Discovery, that started the groundswell of podcasts leveraging video and has his finger on the pulse of monetizing best practices to meet the consumer where they’re consuming content.

 It’s five inspiring chats that reveal the brilliant possibilities of audio and video for the future including:

  1. How OkCupid leverages podcasting for success – earned or owned?
  2. The business model behind the 12 Hour Sound Machines podcast
  3. What Capsho is, and how this new tool taps AI to help podcasters save time
  4. How GlassBox Media cracks the code on growing podcast awareness and ups the value of creator IP

    A spontaneous interview at the Sounds Profitable event in Austin
  5. When is a podcast a video and a video a podcast? How should brands embrace the consumer’s content journey? The Roost tells all.

Chapter Summaries/Time Codes:

[00:00:01]

This is episode 5 of Insider Interviews, with five different guests included. Each of my guests spoke about a different area of the business of podcasting. This was recorded spontaneously right after a panel I conducted during SXSW for Sounds Profitable, featuring one of the panelists and four members of the audio ….

[00:01:42]

Michael Kaye, director of communications at OkCupid is naturally inclined towards earned, but says: “We’ve seen tremendous impact from both podcast advertising and from earned, pitching our experts to appear on other shows. In 2023, we’ll be looking again at podcast advertising.”

[00:03:57]

Brandon Reed’s podcast is called 12-Hour Sound Machines. It was created when his newborn couldn’t sleep through the night, now enjoying about 300,000 downloads a day. Reed started by first directly selling to brands, but now he’s on Megaphone, in the Spotify Audience Network so programmatic sales is a really good solution for him. Hear his explanation of why the moments before falling asleep are actually a powerful moment for advertisers….

[00:09:12]

Bona Rai is a co-founder of Capsho, a product that uses AI to tap audio files to create SEO-optimized content for podcasts. At just 10 months old they’re already embracing a more robust version of Capsho 2.0 coming this Spring.

[Note: I tried out Capsho 1.0 for most of these show notes, with an added “human touch!”]

[00:14:15]

Chris Whitman describes GlassBox Media like a record label for podcast hosts. Its goal is to grow the value of the IP for the creators across any sort of opportunity from a revenue perspective. “Now we represent around 65 shows, with no end in sight.”

[00:18:58]

A.J. Feliciano explains that The Roost podcast network is a video-first podcast network. “We have about 90 shows, a third of them are owned and operated. What is it about multiplatform distribution on podcasts that makes it so worthwhile for other podcasters?”

[00:21:18]

Our thinking around YouTube is that it’s less that it’s about video, and more about the platform itself. Who’s your target audience and where have they been conditioned to go to just consume content? And that’s why we’re seeing podcast-like content bringing such big numbers there.

[00:23:54]

The Roost podcast will always have a foundation in audio. It can have video, it can be on YouTube. Heck, we might even see a world a year or two where long form content is being distributed on TikTok.

[00:24:44]

In terms of measurement A.J. says, “A view and a download are counted two separate metrics: A view is :30 seconds of playback on YouTube and then audio download is :60 seconds by unique user. It’s still very much early days and we’re going to have to figure out ways to plug into that back end of YouTube API.” Adding, “We need to properly measure and communicate those returns for the advertising community.

What’s the reason why podcasting is so big today? It’s because Direct Response has used it as their primary tool. There’s money to be had –and we can do a lot better on this front.

[00:27:50]

One of the things that’s helped us build our business is looking beyond the podcast. If you want to properly tackle YouTube and TikTok and other new platforms that will inevitably join the fray into the future, we really have to almost take the “podcast” out of the center of our universe.

The theme music for Insider Interviews was composed and performed by the incomparable Grammy-winning John Clayton, and this episode was edited by Grace Morton.
Send questions or a suggestion for a next stellar guest to:  podcasts@mossappeal.com

Catch all Insider Interviews episodes on the business of #media, #marketing and advertising right here, or wherever you like to listen to #b2b podcasts. 

Connect with our Episode 5 guests here:

Michael Kaye

Brandon Reed

Bona Rai

Chris Whitman –

A.J. Feliciano

Connect with Insider Interviews:

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Westwood One’s Pierre Bouvard on Making Good Audio Impressions

advertising, business, Episodes, marketing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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Pierre Bouvard has some words of wisdom for media buyers out there…if you’re not buying audio (yes, all audio), you’re leaving reach and engagement on the table. As Chief Insights Officer at Cumulus Media/Westwood One, Pierre has seen the proof and has busted the myths surrounding audio advertising—and particularly the misconceptions about AM/FM radio.

“Radio is perceived as much smaller than it really is. But the data tells us that ad-supported AM-FM streaming is actually bigger than ad-supported Pandora and Spotify combined. That blows people away.”

After stints at Coleman Insights and TiVo, he has become the audio industry’s most revered evangelist and research mind. Now leading Westwood One’s full-service advisory—the Audio Active Group—he provides advertisers with media planning recommendations, creative best practices, and measurement services.

This episode will certainly delight the research aficionados—and may just convince the audio skeptics. We also dig into:

  • What we mean when we say ‘audio.’ Pierre breaks down the composition of the entire audio universe.
  • Tactical scoop about media planning tactics and why an omnichannel approach works best.
  • What the heck is ‘eyes on glass’ and what does it tell us about the effectiveness of TV?
  • Pierre’s pragmatic POV on brand purpose reminds brands to go back to basics.
  • While he does a lot of work recommending media, he drops some facts on why creative trumps everything.
  • Why it’s time for advertisers to stop testing and start committing budgets to podcast advertising. (Learn about the “5% rule”!)

Plus, hear the story of how Pierre ‘broke the internet’ and E.B.’s voice impression of Bette Midler… Just sayin’.

This was a fun (and extremely informative) conversation. I hope this inspires you to learn more about the power of audio advertising.

Mentioned in this episode:

Dig into these findings on sonic branding

Check out the Audio Active blog from Westwood One

Learn more about Edison’s Share of Ear. 

Find Pierre on LinkedIn and on Twitter

Follow Insider Interviews and Moss Appeal on:

Twitter: @insiderintervws and @mossappeal 

IG: @insiderinterviews and @mossappeal  

FB:  InsiderInterviewsPodcast
and PINTEREST because, yes, it’s a thing!

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mossappeal  

Hat tip to Annie Hunt for great show notes and social media support!
And, please support this free podcast Insider Interviews at buymeacoffee.com/mossappeal
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Linda Bethea Danone Cover Image

Danone’s Linda Bethea, The Conscious Consumer Marketer

advertising, business, diversity, Episodes, marketing, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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Did you know there’s a lot more to Danone than Dannon? Do you know the definition of a B Corp? Oat or Soy… or a new low-sugar non-dairy milk?

Linda Bethea, Head of Marketing for Danone North America—a top 15 Food and Beverage company in the US—gives us the insider’s scoop on all of the above and how she markets all TWENTY of Danone’s brands. She is shaping the marketing strategy for some of the most loved CPG products in the country—from Danimals to Evian Water and (my personal favorite) Stok Coffee.

Since Danone is the country’s LARGEST B Corp (listen and learn!), we explore the role of brand purpose in marketing today. Something that runs deep at Danone, going back half a century when the CEO started the concept of a “Dual Project” where companies care about societal value as much as shareholder value.

Consumers want brands that take a stand and have a strong point of view. Building brands with purpose that positively impact the world is core to everything we do at Danone.

Linda has enjoyed an impressive marketing career across CPG categories, from potato chips to liquor, and now leads a massive team that’s moving the Danone name into the future. That means pushing the envelope on product development, navigating the ever-changing marketing landscape, and finding unique brand partnerships that align with the corporate mission… all while continuing to “delight” consumers.

Heads up, there will be a lot of (brand)name-dropping in this episode!

Linda and I get into:
  • How consumer tastes and trends drive innovation and marketing creativity
  • Linda’s path from soda to spirits to spirited field work that that supercharged her path to leadership and taught her how to negotiate and get things done
  • Cool ways Danone is raising the sustainability bar, like rescuing fruit and repurposing bottles into shoes…and how those efforts influenced her home life
  • Her definition of brand purpose and how proper marketing of it impacts consumer choice and company values
  • What’ my on my plate as an ova-lacto-pesce-vegetarian, and is the demand for plant-based foods today just a trend or…?
  • Why she’s bullish on audio when it comes to winning the consumer attention game (this will really resonate when you catch my NEXT podcast interview — with Pierre Bouvard, Head of Research for Cumulus Westwood One!)
  • How she earned the nickname of The Velvet Hammer…
  • And…what Linda reads and watches with her 13-year-old daughter that makes her a better parent.

She’s smart, and inspiring and mission-driven. Don’t miss this conversation with a conscientious consumer marketer and leader.

NOTE: If you’ll be at SXSW in March ’22, you can find her speaking with me more about the power of audio, thanks to Sounds Profitable. Ask me for deets. podcasts@mossappeal.com

Big scoop!

Read about the impact of dairy and what Danone is doing to reduce methane. And see their new campaign for Silk “NextMilk”, designed to inspire the next generation of milk drinkers, but made from plants and with 75% less sugar.

The #whosnext campaign features plant-based enthusiasts such as Brooklyn Beckham, Sailor Brinkley-Cook, and Myles O’Neal donning their best Silk ‘stache and inviting others to join them.

Watch the hit Super Bowl spot from Oikos

Listen to the Insider Interviews episode about Sustainable Brands, with founder KoAnn Skrzyniarz

Learn about B corp certification

Check out The Female Quotient — and get your OWN velvet hammer or mini microphone charm: https://www.thefemalequotient.com/

Social:
Connect with Linda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-bethea-12b7a1
Follow Danone: https://www.instagram.com/danonenorthamerica/

Follow Insider Interviews and E.B. Moss:

Twitter: @insiderintervws and @mossappeal 

IG: @insiderinterviews and @mossappeal  

FB:  InsiderInterviewsPodcast
and

PINTEREST because, yes, it’s a thing 

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mossappeal  

And, you can support this podcast here:

support insider interviews - donation
Support Insider Interviews at www.buymeacoffee.com/mossappeal