This is an archived page from 2018. Find out more
The company is partnering with A Million Ads to offer the service to about 3,000 podcasts in the Acast marketplace.
The Acast team tells PBJ that by combining advertiser messaging with data like the weather, time of day, location, show name, show category, or device type Acast is able to bring a unique ad experience to each listener of a podcast. Everything from the voice over to the sound effects and music of each ad is customized by data from each user’s digital footprint. This personalization can create thousands of unique combinations that can be used to target the right message to the right podcast fan.
That still sounded a little confusing to us so we reached out Acast Chief Commercial Officer Oskar Serrander and shot him a few questions.
**PBJ: Explain exactly how this technology will work? ** Oskar Serrander: With Acast, advertisers can combine their messaging with data like the weather, time of day, location, podcast name, podcast genre and device type to tailor a unique ad experience to each listener. Acast is also able to sequence ad messaging for an evolving ad narrative. This means we can deliver different ads depending on whether a listener has heard an ad from that campaign before, or if it’s their third or fourth time and so on. Finally, Acast can also use advertiser data via available APIs in the ad, like updating a lottery brand’s advert with the new daily prize as it changes over time.
This creates a whole new level of creative opportunities for both brand marketers and performance marketers that want to scale the intimacy they get with podcast advertising. Within the same ad, an advertiser who uses promo codes in their ads could now have a unique code tied to each podcast show across an endless amount of podcasts.
Example ad messaging using: Podcast show name: “Thanks for listening to Watch What Crappens […] make sure to use promo code crappens for 15% off.” Location (city level): “… for you in Chicago, we have a special offer…” Weather: “Looks like there is snow coming today.” Sequencing: “Hi, it’s us again. Last time we talked about X, now we want to present Y.” Show genre: “…it’s even more exciting than the finale of this true crime show.” Device type: “Download our iOS app on the app store right now.” For a campaign like the one running with iD Mobile, Acast automatically creates 23,100 potential versions of one creative that will all sound like unique original ads.
PBJ: How do you know what to customize in an ad? Oskar Serrander: That creative is recorded once, as are all the various changeable copy points When the campaign is live, A Million Ad builds in real-time a version of the audio ad based on the relevant data points applicable to the person listening, and Acast stitches that ad into the podcast. We can personalize across any of the below options based on what the advertiser specifies for the campaign. The above example in the previous question is a good illustration.
Show name Show category/genre Device and OS type Weather Time of day Location Sequence/frequency: we can send different ads depending on if a user has never heard an ad from the campaign, if it’s their second time getting an ad, third time, etc. Advertiser API: We can use advertiser data via an API in the ad. Example: Use a lottery’s daily prize to update the ad.
PBJ: What advertisers do you already have in the system? Oskar Serrander: We are seeing a lot of interest from both brand marketers and performance marketers who understand the great value of the podcast medium. We are very excited about our first campaign in the UK with iD Mobile.
PBJ: How do podcasters get involved with this technology? Oskar Serrander: Podcasts must be distributed by Acast in order for a personalized ad to be served on their show. This is available on the Acast Global Marketplace for any advertiser.
Steve Dunlop, Founder and CEO of A Million Ads said “Podcasting is such an intimate and personal medium, so ad experiences in this environment need to be sensitive to that. We’ve built a tool and designed a creative approach that enables advertiser to respect each user by personalizing each ad to them. It’s great to be partnered with Acast and I look forward to driving innovation in podcast advertising together.”
Comments:
Is there a link to this company?