AdsWizz

Audacia Partners With AdsWizz To Represent Marketplace Ad Inventory

~ jen

Audacia, a global advertising marketplace connecting publishers, advertisers, and customers across premium audio environments, announced that it has entered into an agreement with AdsWizz to represent AdsWizz’s marketplace ad inventory across streaming and podcasts in Asia. AdsWizz’s audio advertising technology combined with Audacia’s expertise in the JAPAC market will streamline podcast, music, and gaming inventory connections, making premium audio content more easily accessible to advertisers.

Audacia will leverage AdsWizz’s audio ad technology and advanced targeting capabilities to sell its audio network in Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Through the use of AdWizz’s technology, including AdsWizz campaign manager and supply side platform, Audacia will aggregate audio inventory from other publishers in these markets such as All Ears English & TuneIn Radio.

With ad spending in the digital audio advertising segment in Asia projected to hit US$2.15bn in 2023, this collaboration will allow further opportunity for clients to connect with an increasingly engaged audience.

“The buzz across JAPAC right now is electric. It definitely feels that the region is having a moment,” said Kym Treasure, CEO & Founder of Audacia. “Investment is flowing in, and it’s a thrilling place to do business. Since Audacia’s launch in 2022, the immediate interest in JAPAC from advertisers and publishers across the globe has exceeded our expectations. And our latest collaboration with AdsWizz is a formidable partnership that cements our position as Asia’s premium audio network. We are excited about the opportunities this collaboration will present to our clients. With 34% of the world’s population listening to at least one podcast in any given month, now is the time for advertisers and publishers alike to invest in their audio offering.”

“We’re trimmed to work with Audacia to offer advertisers in Asia access to our marketplace inventory across music and streaming,” said Brieuc Verwilghen, VP, Head of Commercial Partnerships & Strategy, EMEA & APAC at AdsWizz. “With our innovative technology and Audacia’s evolving presence in the market, buyers can now target and reach an engaged audience of listeners across JAPAC.”

The collaboration will enable a flexible podcast offering in-market, with advertisers benefiting from expanded targeting capabilities, rich engagement in premium content and a growing audience across Asia.

About Audacia

Audacia is a global advertising marketplace connecting publishers, advertisers, and customers across premium audio environments. It is the only independent, full-stack, digital audio advertising platform providing a full-service global solution. To learn more about Audacia, visit audaciaaudio.com.

About AdsWizz

AdsWizz, a subsidiary of SiriusXM, is the technology engine powering the monetization of audio content worldwide. A pioneer in the space, AdsWizz provides publishers and independent content creators with the tools they need to scale their audio business, while offering marketers innovation at scale, allowing them to connect with audiences globally. From radio, streaming, and podcasts to dynamic ad insertion, advance programmatic, contextual targeting, and first-to-market audio ad formats, only AdsWizz seamlessly connects an entire ecosystem of audio buyers and sellers with the click of a button. To learn more about AdsWizz, visit adswizz.com.

HT Media Ltd. Launches First Programmatic Podcast Marketplace with AdsWizz

~ jen

HT Media Ltd. has partnered with AdsWizz to create India’s first programmatic podcast marketplace. This strategic relationship enables brands to access millions of listeners in India with real-time buying and selling of podcast advertising. Named “FabX”, this is the newest addition to HT media’s vast offering.

Podcast advertising is still at a nascent stage in India. Among the choices one has in podcasting, sponsored episodes and branded content are the obvious options available to both publisher and advertiser, with Programmatic as a new avenue it is is a win-win situation for the podcast industry in India. In a market that is fragmented with Subscription-based models and independent content selling, this move sets itself as a sure way of providing access to monetization avenues.

“Our partnership with Hindustan Times highlights the growing opportunities in this market,” says Patrick Roger, VP of New Markets, AdsWizz. “Our technology combines the power of programmatic advertising with the power of podcasts, enabling advertisers’ easy access to a highly engaged audience. Additionally, with our AI Transcription Technology, advertisers can ensure brand safety by only serving ads to podcast shows our episodes that have specific topics as a central theme.”

This relationship will automate real-time buying, targeting, optimization, and reporting of podcast ad inventory. Advertisers will always be able to choose their geography, time, and demographics as the content increases. What is more exciting is the fact that one of the biggest reasons why podcasts are making their space into the heart of the Indians is because the content is present in numerous languages. Local advertising too can be enabled via this platform.

It is estimated that the number of listeners will rise to 170.6 million by 2023, and India’s music, radio and podcast market will double itself by 2023. The advent of programmatic advertising in podcasts opens doors to more brand communications spend towards the format as the audience grows.

“It is an exciting time for us and a proud moment, to make advertisers experience the power of an immersive medium like Podcasts.” says Ramesh Menon, CEO, Fever Network and Next Radio Ltd.

“HT Smartcast is paving the way for advertisers to have higher efficiency and greater impact for their advertising bucks through Programmatic audio advertising that will be time-saving, targeted and data/analysis friendly and performance-oriented. Our focus now is to quickly scale this for the benefit of podcasters and advertisers alike and help them take advantage of a marketplace on increasing the volume of new and engaging content and exploring the full potential of audio.”

Indian Podcasts are available in Hindi, English, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, and other vernacular languages. This diversity increases engagement and promotes a larger attention span in podcasts. This learning is not only beneficial for advertisers, but for podcasters in India who are looking to create monetizable content.

HT Media plans to be for podcasters, what YouTube is to creators. It believes that there is a podcaster hidden in every Indian who has a story to tell. It is enabling then with their podcast content-generating company HT Smartcast and partner companies like HubHopper. By the virtue of its legacy is enabling another medium of sharing voice.

idobi Signs Exclusive Agreement with AdsWizz for Monetization

~ jen

AdsWizz, a global leader in digital audio and podcast technology solutions, and idobi Network, the internet’s #1 alternative music network, announced the expansion of their current agreement, making AdsWizz the exclusive global monetization provider for advertisers seeking to reach idobi’s highly engaged audience across key markets, including the US and Europe.

Building on a successful existing relationship, this expanded agreement designates AdsWizz was the sole monetization provider for all of idobi’s inventory. Buyers can access idobi’s inventory through the AdsWizz Marketplace, a global exchange enabling publishers and advertisers to easily transact audio advertising programmatically.

Through the AdsWizz Marketplace, advertisers will gain access to idobi’s distinctive global audience of trend-makers in the 13–34 demographic, evenly split between genders. idobi is an all-access-pass to the alternative music world, including three fan-favorite streaming stations focused on alt-rock, heavy, and indie genres. Enhancing the music with content that resonates, the idobi studio produces over 20 podcast-shows dedicated to the alternative music & entertainment lifestyle and the community who inspires it.

“Since 1999 idobi has cultivated an international community within the alternative music world. In that time the network has become more than music: idobi is now a lifestyle. Building on a consistently beneficial relationship with the AdsWizz team, who continues to revolutionize the audio advertising technology space, we look forward to expanded opportunities and growth via this new era in our relationship,” said Eddie Barella, COO & Program Director, idobi.

“This expanded agreement will enable us to help increase the monetization of idobi’s valuable inventory to the fullest extent and to do that for them globally. We are excited to continue working with them across countries such as the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Brazil,” said Anne Frisbie, SVP Global Supply & Partnerships, AdsWizz.

The relationship between idobi and AdsWizz further strengthens AdsWizz’s position as the go-to ad-tech provider for podcast and digital audio publishers across the US and Europe. AdsWizz’s extensive technology and services enable publishers to efficiently monetize all their audio content — whether publishers sell their inventory themselves or outsource such sales — and make it easily accessible to brands and agencies.

Globally, the AdsWizz Marketplace offers over 9 billion available impressions and connects with over 80 million uniques each month. Adding idobi content to the AdsWizz Marketplace will enrich and expand the marketplace’s current offering, helping to streamline the overall ad buying and selling process for both publishers and advertisers. Additionally, audio buyers can reach listeners in more personal ways through rich audience segment targeting, such as geo, device type, genre, language, weather, demographic, behavioral segments and more.

AdsWizz and its regional sales representatives are proud to represent this highly sought-after alternative music inventory. Advertisers can now leverage idobi’s content to connect with new audiences around the world within the AdsWizz Marketplace, including countries such as the United States, Canada, Germany, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Australia, United Kingdom, Russia, France, Thailand, and Spain.

AdsWizz Signs Agreement with AI Music

~ jen

AdsWizz,a digital audio and podcast technology solutions company, and AI Music, a London based AI and music technology company, announced that they have signed an agreement to bring AI Music’s Sympaphonic Ads technology to AdsWizz AudioMatic DSP, the company’s audio and podcast ad buying platform. Dunkin’, America’s all-day, everyday stop for coffee and baked goods, is one of the first to tap into the joint solution to enhance the way they engage with listeners.

The integration means that brands and agencies using AdsWizz AudioMatic can enable the background audio of the ads to automatically adjust to the listener’s music genre, in real-time when the ad is played. The technology has been shown to result in more ad engagement, and to significantly cut production time for brands and agencies, while delivering a more personalized ad experience. Under the terms of the agreement, AdsWizz AudioMatic is the only ad buying platform that can take advantage of this technology for digital audio advertising.

“We’re excited to be working with AI Music to bring Publicis Inspire Media Engine and Dunkin’ new digital audio ad experiences,” said Pierre Naggar, SVP of Global Demand, AdsWizz. “Pilot campaigns have shown advertisers’ positive results with an average of 95% decrease in production time, 5x greater efficiency compared to standard audio tactics, and 238% higher engagement compared to non-personalized ads.”

“AdsWizz is the ideal partner to bring this solution to market” said Siavash Mahdavi, CEO of AI Music. “We believe that this will enable brands and agencies to more closely engage with their audience, as they can create audio ads at scale that are less disruptive for listeners.”

“We’re thrilled to be one of the first brands to run campaigns using the Sympaphonic Ad product with AdsWizz, in collaboration with Publicis Inspire Media Engine, as we promote our espresso platform and highlight our new non-dairy offerings,” said Keith Lusby, VP of Media at Dunkin’. “Leveraging the AI ad product gives listeners a seamless, personalized ad experience.”

The solution is available today in beta to agencies and trading desks globally that use AdsWizz AudioMatic DSP, and to publishers that use AdsWizz AudioServe Campaign Manager.

AdsWizz New Audio Attribution Solution Delivers Results for Advertisers

~ jen

AdsWizz has expanded its tools with a new attribution solution. The solution for audio allows advertisers to accurately measure the impact of their ads and maximize the effectiveness of each campaign while it is still in progress. In a study of 600 campaigns that have used AdsWizz attribution technology, advertisers saw a 4.0% average conversion rate of ad impressions, and of the campaigns tracking purchase related conversions, 82% of advertisers were able to attribute a purchase to the audio advertising campaign.

“Audio is a hugely popular industry with fast-growing listenership numbers,” said Pierre Naggar, SVP Global Demand at AdsWizz. “The launch of our attribution solution brings to the audio industry measurement access to data insights that they can plan campaigns against. We’ve made it easy for advertisers to tailor conversion metrics to best suit their campaigns goals.”

“AdWizz’s attribution solution has been instrumental in showing our clients the true value and power behind streaming radio and podcast advertising,” said Jonathan Gualotuna, Head of Programmatic at Promote, a digital marketing agency specializing in performance marketing. “By being able to accurately attribute our audio campaigns to purchases and consumers’ path to conversion, we were able to see astounding return on ad spend and provide key insights for our advertisers.”

As audio consumption has grown, it has effectively become a part of everyday life – accompanying consumers in the morning with the daily news, on their commutes, and while they exercise and cook. But during these activities, listeners do not always stop to carry out a desired action, like visiting a brand’s website to sign-up or make a purchase, even though the audio ad may have created initial awareness. The desired action often occurs on another digital device, differing from the one where the ad was heard, at a later time. This delay and device fragmentation leaves advertisers unable to accurately connect conversions to their audio ads.

AdsWizz attribution solutions now enable advertisers to see which conversions can be attributed to their audio ads. AdsWizz attribution technology is the first platform to combine cross-device ad tracking and attribution reporting in the same platform. This powerful combination allows advertiser to assess the impact of their ongoing campaigns at a granular level. The solution is able to surface performance insights and automatically recommend specific campaign adjustments for mid-flight optimization strategies. It’s like having an ad navigation system that re-routes the campaign on a successful path every time it detects blockages or delays.

The solution is available on AdsWizz AudioMatic, the audio and podcast planning and buying platform for advertisers; and AdsWizz AudioServe, the campaign management and trafficking solution for audio publishers. It is available today in all major global markets

Pandora has Acquired AdsWizz

~ jen

Earlier this year, Pandora announced that it would acquire AdsWizz. That same day, AdsWizz confirmed the acquisition in a tweet that linked to a press release on Business Wire. Pandora posted the same press release on their website.

Pandora is the world’s most powerful music discovery platform. AdsWizz has created the end-to-end technology platform that is powering the digital audio advertising ecosystem. From dynamic ad insertion to advanced programmatic platforms to innovative new audio formats, AdsWizz efficiently connects buyers and sellers in digital audio.

Pandora announced that the addition of AdsWizz will upgrade Pandora’s ad tech capabilities, provide its advertisers with greater audience reach, and expand the company’s revenue opportunities.

AdsWizz is one of the few ad tech firms that is completely dedicated to digital audio, serving some of the largest players in the industry. With digital audio advertising growing 42% year-over-year, according to the IAB, the combined offering of Pandora and AdsWizz will capitalize on this trend, making it easier for publishers to monetize their inventory and for advertisers to buy and measure their campaigns.

Once fully integrated, advertisers will be able to transact through AdsWizz’s global marketplace across Pandora and other leading audio publishers. Pandora will support the growth of AdsWizz’s core business and invest in technology development that serves all constituents.

The press release states that AdsWizz will become a subsidiary of Pandora. Alexis van de Weyr will remain the CEO of AdsWizz. Pandora agreed to pay $145 million in a combination of cash and stock, with a minimum of 50 percent paid in cash and stock (with a minimum of 50 percent paid in cash and the remainder to be paid, at Pandora’s election, in either cash or stock. This transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018.

HowStuffWorks Partners with AdsWizz

~ jen

HowStuffWorks is an award-winning source of unbiased, reliable, easy to understand answers and explanations of how the world actually works. AdsWizz is the leading global digital audio advertising solution provider. HowStuffWorks and AdsWizz have partnered to connect adversing to the HowStuffWorks podcasts.

HowStuffWorks announced that it will bring dynamic advertising to its expansive podcast library, doubling new advertising inventory for its existing and future portfolio of leading brand partners. Powered by AdsWizz, the partnership is intended to strengthen the value of podcast advertising for brands, while maintaining an inherently intimate listening experience.

HowStuffWorks’ 12 podcast brands have amassed over 650 million downloads in the last eight years, and garner over 29 million downloads every month. With an evergreen podcast library of more than 6,000 episodes totaling over 3,000 hours of listening time, combined with dynamic ad insertion technology, HowStuffWorks is now uniquely positioned to provide a new level of scale to brands seeking to enhance their digital advertising across all platforms.

This technology partnership reinforces HowStuffWorks’ commitment to curated, live-read ad integrations that foster a personal connection with listeners.

AdsWizz has built a suite of solutions dedicated to bringing advanced advertising capabilities and extending this one-to-one experience by creating and implementing unique listening experiences informed by listener information like location, content preferences or user profile.

AdsWizz Launched PodWave

~ jen

PodWave logoAdsWizz, a leading technology provider of advertising solutions for the digital market, has announced the launch of PodWave. It is the first ad marketplace specifically created to meet the needs of podcasters.

The new PodWave marketplace provides its premium publishers with ad creatives specifically tailored to best fit podcast content. It also creates a dedicated venue for advertisers targeting the in-demand audiences of premium podcasts while providing them with detailed metrics.

National Public Media (NPM), the sales team for NPR and PBS stations and their digital offerings, will be working with AdsWizz to drive sales to advertisers and their agencies. Under the terms of the deal, NPM will sell PodWave inventory to advertisers, capitalizing on the large and growing podcast audience.

PodWave enables advertisers to deliver targeted audio ads tailored to listeners’ locations, listening devices, demographic categories and other profile elements, including the subject matter of the podcast. In order to provide advertisers with a messaging format that is consistent with the spoken word nature of podcasts, NPM will provide proven audio creative production services to PodWave advertisers. With this partnership, AdsWizz and NPM are enabling advertisers to easily achieve broad scale across the podcast medium