What Brands Want From Audio with Robbie Giles of MasterClass and Kezia Koo of Indeed

The Media Roundtable is back! This week we’re conversing with two extremely successful Chief Audio Officers to answer the key question:

“What do brands want?”

At Podcast Movement Evolutions, Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road) took the stage with Kezia Koo, (Senior Director of Global Employer Performance Marketing, Indeed) and Robbie Giles (VP of Performance & Lifecycle Marketing, MasterClass) diving into the unique benefits and challenges with audio. We’re curating all their insights (and changes they’re hoping for) and bringing them straight to you.

We’re talking brand safety, testing in the age of efficiency, audio’s role in your media mix, and more. Let’s get started.

“Rather than trying to throw brands in at the deep end of the pool, how do we build them a staircase?”

Cheaper Tests 🙏 - We’re not in the era of $200k show tests anymore. Our CAOs want to test cheaply and scale, if it works. And that makes sense. Every CAO wants to scale (assuming it works), so if we can de-risk early show tests, we get more chances to find a winner. Even better, when the tests are cheaper CAOs are more likely to be patient with new shows and adjust creative before pulling the plug.

Brand Risks=Channel Risks 😬- If a brand catches heat for sponsoring a controversial episode, the conversation isn’t: “Should we stop supporting that show?” It’s “Should we stop advertising on podcasts?” CAOs like Kezia have to protect the whole buy every time there’s a controversy. Her ask? For creators to be more mindful about their content, especially when big brands are supporting their shows. (Plug for Seekr’s civility score, which gives us a brand safety nutrition label, so brands know in advance what’s under the hood.)

Always in the Mix 🔊- How important is audio to marketers? Maybe the better question is: How important is audio to your customers? Because if your audience is enjoying podcasts and streaming music for several hours every day, that’s incredibly powerful. You know you reach them while also supporting the shows and content they care about. Plus, podcast ads can run longer, and remain engaging with a trusted source of authority. Altogether, this means audio plays a vital role in explaining complex attributes of a brand while keeping listeners engaged.

These gems from our superstar CAOs are just the beginning. To find out once and for all what brands want, tune into the full episode by clicking the link below.

Bianca Gorodinsky