MAM
Spotify launches Spotify Audience Network
Mumbai: Continuing its investment in the advertising business, Spotify announced the launch of the Spotify Audience Network in India, as well as in Sweden, Brazil, Mexico and Japan. The audio-first advertising marketplace will bring scaled, audience-based podcast buying to brands in India for the first time, and presents a unique opportunity for podcast publishers and creators in the markets to effectively monetize their content. The first publishers in India that will leverage the Network to monetise content through advertisers, include Audio Pitara and Ideabrew Studios.
The Spotify Audience Network launched in the U.S. in 2021 and is now available in more than a dozen global markets across North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Over the past 12 months, advertisers participating in the marketplace have grown over 45 per cent while opted-in podcast publishers have increased more than 70 per cent.
“In Q3, our global advertising revenue grew 16 per cent YoY and podcasts played a critical role. Building on the same success and keeping in mind that India is a significant growth market for podcasts, we are unlocking this growing marketplace for local advertisers and publishers. This expansion is the latest in a series of investments Spotify has made to take podcast and audio advertising to the next level by enabling brands to reach these uniquely engaged listeners at scale”, said Spotify head of sales – India, Arjun Kolady.
“We are always looking for new ways to bring in advertising that not only drives greater revenue but also provides personalised and valuable messaging for our listeners. The Spotify Audience Network will be a critical addition to our monetization efforts by bringing us incremental, unique demand that helps ensure more of our impressions are filled by high-quality and brand-safe ads,” said Audio Pitara co-founder Tapan Gupta.
“Podcasts are an immersive medium, and so, while we focus on finding innovative avenues to integrate advertising, we also want to ensure that the brand and the messaging is relevant to our audience. The inclusion of the Spotify Audience Network is pivotal to our growth strategy, as it adds distinctive demand”, explained Ideabrew Studios co-founder & CEO Aditya Kuber.
Here’s what the Spotify Audience Network means for advertisers and publishers:
1. Beginning today, advertisers in India will be able to reach podcast listeners at scale across the Spotify Audience Network.
2. Our audio-first advertising marketplace connects advertisers with listeners using audience-based targeting tools, while they listen to their favourite podcasts from leading third-party podcast publishers like Audio Pitara and Ideabrew Studios.
3. Through this offering, advertisers across India will be able to target podcast listeners – at scale – both on and off Spotify.
4. For eligible and opted-in podcast creators, the Spotify Audience Network enables them to monetise impressions generated by listeners in the market.
5. From major podcast publishers with a global audience to smaller independent podcasters with a fiercely loyal fanbase, opting into the Spotify Audience Network will give all publishers scaled access to advertisers in-market that are interested in reaching your audience.
AD Agencies
Omnicom Advertising names Ellie Brocklehurst chief growth and marketing officer for Asia
The former TBWA Asia marketing chief returns from maternity leave with an ambitious mandate to make Omnicom the most sought-after network in the region.
NEW YORK: Ellie Brocklehurst is back, and she is not easing herself in gently. Omnicom Advertising has appointed Brocklehurst as chief growth and marketing officer for Asia, a role that puts her in charge of growth and marketing initiatives across the network’s three flagship agencies: BBDO, McCann and TBWA. Her brief is to sharpen existing capabilities while identifying new avenues for expansion across the region.
Brocklehurst brings a career that has moved steadily upward through some of the industry’s most recognisable names. She began at Source Music before moving through Exposure Public Relations and Marketing, Taurus Marketing and LEWIS Global Communications. She then joined BBDO Worldwide as communications manager for the Asia group, rising to regional communications director for Asia. At Wunderman Thompson, she served as head of marketing and PR for APAC before being elevated to APAC growth marketing lead, where she worked closely with local management teams on client expansion strategies, new business acquisition and brand building. Most recently, she served as chief marketing officer at TBWA\Asia.
Brocklehurst, who is returning from maternity leave, was characteristically direct about what she intends to do with the opportunity. “Transitioning back from my final maternity leave is a significant personal milestone,” she said. “While it’s the end of one era at home, it marks the beginning of an ambitious new one professionally.” She left little doubt about the scale of her ambition. “I’m stepping into this role with a clear mission: to make Omnicom Advertising the most awarded, revered, and sought-after agency network in Asia.”
In a region where agency networks are jostling hard for creative dominance and client loyalty, that is a target worth watching. Brocklehurst has spent two decades learning exactly how this game is played. Now she gets to set the rules.
