Since it launched a year and a half ago, Nielsen’s Podcast Buying Power Service has had a quick embrace by podcast companies as they sought new data insights to help them sell the medium. Buyers, however, have been slower to enlist. But the number of ad agencies subscribing to the syndicated service has more than doubled with Ad Results Media, Active International, and Oxford Road joining the list. Each is already a user of audio advertising, with a growing focus on podcasting.
“With more brand advertisers coming into the podcast medium, and Nielsen’s ability to analyze over 160 podcasts, these agencies will be able to reach even greater success as industry leaders,” said Nielsen Executive VP David Hohman in the announcement.
The Podcast Buying Power Service mines the roughly 30,000-person Scarborough database to connect specific types of listeners with particular advertisers and specific program-level insights. In addition to results on specific programs, it also offers data on hundreds of advertisers and more than 2,000 product categories such as insurance companies, automotive, quick-service restaurants, and home improvement retailers. It also features the same capabilities by genres and listening usage. For buyers, the twice-a-year reports offer a roadmap of the best podcast on which to place their ads.
Ad Results Media has been using endorsement style ads for more than two decades and it has extended those influencer strategies to podcasting where host-read ads still dominate over pre-recorded spots. CEO Marshall Williams said they will be able to marry Nielsen’s data with the agency’s own propriety database on thousands of podcasts that it relies on to buy, test, and monitor campaigns. “The collaboration with Nielsen’s Podcast Buying Power Service will help us achieve greater clarity into audience analysis and performance diagnostics to better align brands and quantify success and scale effectively for our clients,” said Williams.
Oxford Road, an agency that specializes in audio and podcast buying, said it too will integrate Nielsen’s data into its toolkit. “It will enrich our planning and data capabilities and allow us to take clients to the next level,” said Executive VP Giles Martin.
And Active International, an independent media company and a corporate trade provider, said the data will help increase its return on podcast ad spending. “Our unique vantage point in the media industry, combined with these sophisticated insights, will continue to help clients achieve high ROI in quality programming,” said Jason Endres, Associate Director of National Audio.
More than a dozen podcast companies are currently subscribers to the Podcast Buying Power Service. IPG Mediabrands – the parent to media buying agencies like Magna, Universal McCann, and Initiative – became the first Madison Avenue client in January 2020. Nielsen then added Veritone One as a client last August.
Williams said the time is right for media buyers to embrace audio. “There’s never been a better time for brands to explore the podcast and audio advertising ecosystem – the most authentic, memorable and mutually beneficial medium for growth,” he said.