signmesh snapshot - listen up!

snapshot
listen up!
"Netflix of Radio” delivers audio content on demand.
A collection of signs and cases relating to audio content and
how it is evolving with changing consumer behaviors and
technologies.
SIGNMESH.COMSNAPSHOTOCTOBER2017

content
1
what’s
happening?
2 3
who’s doing
it right?
CONTENT
what’s the
takeout?

introduction
A collection of signs and cases relating to
audio branding and how it is evolving with
the changing consumer behaviors and
technologies.
INTRODUCTION
Audio content is consumed whenever and wherever the
listener prefers. It is entertainment on-demand. For
companies, podcasts and audio targeted messages are
great because it is more personal than written content
while not losing any storytelling capabilities.
In this snapshot we take a deep dive into this content
format, specifically:
— what’s happening? 
how did audio content evolve? - who are the
listeners? - how is it consumed? - how effective is it?
— who’s doing it right? 
which content do best practices concentrate on? -
how do brands engage customers through elements
of discovery? - how do others monetize the audio
content format?
— what’s the takeout? 
what can brands learn from market and consumer
trends as well as best practices when planning audio
content?

what’s
happening?
the consumer and market trends that are
making audio a growing format for brand
communication and customer
engagement.
1

evolution of audio content:
WHAT’SHAPPENING?
Branded
Podcasts
like Amazon Echo and Google
Home let consumers interact
without a screen and make voice &
audio interfaces increasingly
important
were just the beginning and
helped to spark a new craze
for audio content marketing
such as smart cars and other
AI-powered devices are the
next to come in the audio
content evolution
Home
Digital
Assistants
IoT
Offerings
tech opening up new audio possibilities for brands:
source: Marketing Dive

56%
male
the listeners:
WHAT’SHAPPENING?
source: Salesforce
44%
female
77%
27%
click on podcasts to
listen to them
immediately
subscribe to listen
later
on average, people spend
4 hours
per daylistening to audio content

the medium:
WHAT’SHAPPENING?
source: Salesforce
69%
audio is mostly consumed mobile:
69% use their smartphone,
tablet or other portable
device
most popular places to
listen to a podcast:
ƞ
♂
home car
walking at work

audio effectiveness:
WHAT’SHAPPENING?
source: Marketing Dive, Crowed Media
year-old consumers said that
podcasts are the preferred
medium for digital ads
66%
of podcast listeners are more
inclined to consider
purchasing products and
services advertised via the
format
18-49 45%
visited a brand’s website after
hearing its ad on a podcast
8%
bought the brand’s product
after hearing an ad on a
podcast

who’s doing
it right?
how brands are making use of audio
formats for creating interactive, immersive
and personalized content in podcasts,
smart home devices and for advertising.
2

1. Content
2. Discovery
3. Monetization
With 57 million Americans listening monthly
(up 23%, year on year), the potential for
podcasting's star to rise through content,
discovery and monetization is strong.
WHO’SDOINGITRIGHT?
More and more companies are hopping on the audio
content train. They are experimenting with the format to
support their brand with a storytelling element.
This chapter explores three core topics of audio content
and how brands utilize it:
— Content: 
how brands provide (niche) audio content that
entertains and educates their target groups through
audio series and podcasts
— Discovery: 
how brands include listeners in audio stories or give
them ways to interact with the brand and each other
— Monetization: 
how are brands involving customers and their data to
create personalized audio content and drive business
outcomes

CONTENT:
reactive listening
how brands provide audio content that entertains and
educates their target groups through audio series and
podcasts

Blockbuster
Podcast
"S-Town" the latest podcast from
Serial was downloaded 16 million
times in its first week.
The third installment from Serial has
seen the fastest growth of a podcast
ever. But this achievement hasn’t
come easy, the team at Serial have
been working on this project for
three years, they also did away with
convention and released all their
podcasts at once, giving listeners
the possibility to binge on their
content.
Source: signmesh

General Electric
Sci-Fi Podcast
Theatre
To connect their brand with a wide range
of consumers, GE developed an inspired
podcast series.
The GE podcasts take listeners through a
story of science fiction, with references
to specific themes related to current
trends. The first series, “The Message”,
focused on sound-based medical
treatments and was downloaded
4.4million times. Now, “LifeAfter”
emphasizes “digital twinning”.
Inserting these thematic elements into
the plot-lines, the podcasts reflect the
work of GE.
Source: signmesh

The New York
Times Launches
Daily News
Podcast
The Daily is giving an alternative to
print by delivering the day’s most
important news in a 15-minute podcast
to reach commuters heading to work.
As podcasts are seeing their comeback
recently, The New York Times
announced it will launch a weekday
show called “The Daily”. The 15-minute
show is running on weekdays, released
every morning at 6 and includes a text
messaging component.
Source: signmesh

Starbuck’s Series
For Social Good
Starbuck’s most recent content
campaign featured ten inspiring stories
of real people contributing to their
communities in admirable ways, told in
a variety of formats.
Starbuck’s content series featured ten
stories of “upstanders”, those who
chose to act in a selfless way when
they saw change was needed within
their community. The stories were
shared in podcast, video and text form
with people on social media, or while
they were waiting for their order after
using their app.
Source: signmesh

Mic Educates
Millennials on
Money
Mic launched a channel about finance
in order to give millennials a crash
course on money.
Mic launched a finance channel, called
The Payoff, that helps its millennial
viewers take control of their finances.
The channel covers everything from
student debt to how to buy a car. It can
be found as a podcast, video series,
interactive online product and a
newsletter with consistent editorial
pieces online.
Source: signmesh

DISCOVERY:
interactive storytelling
how do brands include listeners in audio stories or give them
ways to interact with the brand and each other

Mosaic’s Podcast
Mystery
The Mosaic Company, manufacturing
soil enrichment solutions for farmers,
created a mystery story podcast that
tied into their product offering.
Mosaic’s podcast “The Great Yield
Mystery” tells the story of two farmer
brothers that are trying to figure out
why their harvest was short. The
experience was made engaging by
including a riddle to solve the mystery
and win prizes. Clues were found on
the website, social media and podcast
episodes. As a result, more than 2,000
people listened to the podcast.
Source: signmesh

Google Home For
Publishers
Google Home has teamed up with Vogue
in order to give publishers a new
platform for their content. The new
model enables “interactive audio”,
meaning that listeners can select
segments of the pieces in a non-linear
order.
There is “behind the scenes” audio
content from selected Vogue interviews.
Users talking to their Google Home
device, can choose between five stories
from the September issue. The print
magazine indicates articles that are also
available on Google Home.
Source: signmesh

BBC’s Interactive
Drama For Voice
Device
The British broadcaster is turning
traditional audio dramas into
interactive stories to be broadcasted
on Amazon Echo and Google Home.
The new drama series “The Inspection
Chamber” is a comedy/science fiction
story, which allows listeners to choose
their own adventure. They hear a
chunk of the story, after which they are
presented with options of what could
happen next. Depending on the
listeners’ answers some of the details
of the story change. The duration of
the show is around 20 minutes.
Source: signmesh

Bacardi’s DJ
Experience On
Instagram
Bacardi is using Instagram Stories and
collaborating with Swiss Beatz to bring
people a new musical experience - an
interactive DJ feature.
A collaborative project from Bacardi
with BBDO New York agency,
Tonefarmer, Facebook’s Creative Shop
and Swiss Beatz sees consumers
mixing music on a digital simulator of a
two record DJ set-up, on their
smartphones.
Source: signmesh

MONETIZATION:
personalized targeting
how are brands involving customers and their data to create
personalized audio content and drive business outcomes

Spotify Audio
Self-Service
Advertising
Platform
Spotify Ad Studio, which is available in
beta mode in the U.S., makes it easy for
marketers to reach the right target
segments with audio campaigns.
Users upload a script and pick a
background sound, then Ad Studio
generates a full audio ad for review. If the
user already has an audio ad completed
he can simply upload it with one click. He
can then pick an audience based on age,
gender, location, activity and music taste
and select mobile, desktop or both, and
set the budget and timing to track the
results.
Source: signmesh

Audio-
Personalization in
Advertisements
Channel 4 is launching their new
interactive advertising technology and
20th Century Fox will be the first
company to work on it.
Channel 4 will launch new interactive
VOD format on their on demand service
All 4. The format allows advertisers to
build personalized audio for users. With
this technology advertisers can include
the name of individuals within the audio of
their marketing campaigns, the names will
be generated from the first-party data of
broadcaster's registered viewer database.
Source: signmesh

HSBC
Personalize
Choice With
Music Videos
HSBC Singapore have a new,
interactive campaign to create
personalized recommendations for
potential customers through music
videos.
Interested consumers located in
Singapore can take a short quiz asking
about their lifestyle to generate a
unique music video for each user. The
music video will let them know which
credit card would suit them, allowing
the bank to help them discover all they
have to offer through an interactive and
entertaining process.
Source: signmesh

what’s the
takeout?
what are the implications for brands to
utilize audio content? 3

IMPLICATIONS
leverage new and upcoming
channels
These factors make it a unique medium, compatible
with busy urban lives that require hands-free
consumption of content without visual distractions.
Brands should leverage new channels such as IoT
devices, smart cars and homes. These new channels
make the listening experience mobile and highly
valuable for the consumer that lives an on-the-go
lifestyle.
make interaction with
customers intuitive  
From a marketing perspective, podcasts represent
a conversational format to educate and entertain
your audience. Since there is no screen in between
the brand and the customer, it is very intuitive,
interactive and personal.
implications

IMPLICATIONS
monetize with direct targeting
and less competition
Other than visual formats where brands always have
to compete for eye balls, audio content is not yet
overcrowded.
Ads in this format can still stand out easily and show
great potential because listeners are less distracted.
With programs and apps making personalized audio
messaging possible, audio gets the attention from
listeners easily and becomes a very effective
marketing tool.
experiment with the audio
format 
Audio content marketing is relatively inexpensive.
There are no heavy upfront costs, allowing brands to
be unfiltered, to test various strategies and responsive
to the results.
However, the creative effort should be as considerable
as any other medium. It needs planning and a long-
term strategy to keep listeners engaged.
implications

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