Clinch Unveils Digital Audio Ad Model Shifting Focus To Outcomes.

Clinch, the ad-serving company that leaped into streaming radio and podcasts earlier this year alongside its existing work in video, social media, and out-of-home media, is now making what may be an even bigger move. The company has launched a new unlimited ad serving model, which, for a fixed monthly fee, allows self-service users to get unlimited ad serving across all channels through its Flight Control platform regardless of the volume.

“We’re shifting the conversation from how much you serve to what you achieve,” CEO Oz Etzioni says in the announcement.

Clinch says the move is designed to prioritize client business goals and outcomes over impression counts. It says it also is more tuned to how self-service advertisers are today looking to scale smarter, not spend harder. It believes they also want to move away from CPM-based pricing models that tie technology costs to impression volume, rather than results.

Historically, brands and agencies have faced a frustrating paradox: the more efficient their media becomes, the more they’re able to run; yet the more they run, the more they must pay their tech partners who operate outside of media buying, and charge based on volume. In certain instances, Clinch says this volume-based pricing punishes success and stifles scalability. It says the all-you-can serve model fixes that.

“This model frees self-service advertiser clients from the legacy trap, where optimizing media buying and becoming more efficient ironically ends up costing more,” Etzioni says. With this model, the company says advertisers can also reinvest media efficiencies into greater reach and frequency without worrying about tech costs ballooning as a result.

“We built this model to support a shift from media metrics to marketing impact,” Etzioni says. “Advertisers shouldn’t be budgeting for impressions, they should be budgeting for outcomes, a game changer in driving performance.”

Clinch moved into digital audio ad serving in February, prompted by not only the renaissance of the audio medium but also after it saw demand for audio inventory spike among the marketers the company works with.

Under the expansion, advertisers can serve campaigns across multiple digital audio publishers and platforms through a single campaign setup and ad tag that is designed to auto-render assets that match each publisher’s requirements. It means that advertisers using Clinch’s Flight Control can connect with audiences across streaming services, podcasts and smart speakers. They have several targeting options to lean into, including weather, dayparting, location, sports and events, and more traditional audience segmentation.

Clinch says that will ensure delivery of highly relevant audio content to consumers wherever and whenever they tune in. And the company says its audio tags are certified for serving direct and programmatic campaigns, with media partners and platforms including iHeartMedia, The Trade Desk, DV360, Yahoo, Xandr, AdsWizz, nglmitú, Videoamp and others.