Media Roundtable

What do brands really want? Find out in this week’s episode of The Media Roundtable.

Giles Martin (EVP, Strategy, Oxford Road), Kyle Jelinek (VP, Client Services, Oxford Road), and Megan Smith (Director, Media Strategy, Tecovas) break down all the learnings from our new What Brands Want report. Together, they sift through the data on spend growth, guarantees, and podcasting’s true impact. Let’s dive in.

“"With podcasting, there's always going to be this challenge with triangulating the data points and building the story for the channel."

• Megan Smith (Director, Media Strategy, Tecovas)

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How do advertisers use fear—and where does persuasion become manipulation? Find out in a very spooky episode of Ad Infinitum.

That’s right: The world’s only podcast solely dedicated to audio ads is back! Host Stew Redwine (Executive Creative Director, Oxford Road) welcomes Bethany Dwyer (comedian, author of Break Free from Fear, owner of Cryptiques Vintage) to talk about big fears, the Red Guardian, audience manipulation, and more. There’s even an Audiolytics breakdown of ads from Cigna Healthcare, Cloaked, 4imprint, and Northwest Registered Agent. Let’s dig in.

“ Fear keeps you small. It's designed to do that. It's like a parasite that lives off you, and you're just a host.”

-The purpose of radio, according to Rahul Sabnis (President & Chief Creative Officer, iHeartMedia)

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In the media landscape, podcasts stand alone: They deliver unique content for audiences and great results for brands—so long as the balance of ads is kept in check. With audiences and brands complaining about high ad load, how can creators make sure they’re not cramming their shows with commercials? 

In this week’s episode of The Media Roundtable, Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road) and Giles Martin (EVP, Strategy, Oxford Road) talk about podcasting’s origins, “radioifcation,” and the Oxford Clock. Let’s dive in.

“ The sell side is gonna sell everything they can. They're gonna sell host-read ads, as many as they can. They're gonna sell produced ads in breaks, dynamically inserted, until the buyer and the listener scream.”

- Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road)

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Podcasting isn’t just a DIY passion project anymore; it's a full-fledged business ecosystem, complete with sponsors, merch, and serious ROI. And with companies like Netflix and YouTube helping shows reach new audiences, advertisers don’t want to miss out.. So how can creators and brands take advantage of podcasting’s new business landscape? On the latest episode of The Media Roundtable, Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road) and Bryan Barletta (Founder, Sounds Profitable) join the Podcast Academy to discuss monetization, the next big moves, and how podcasters can grow their business.

“One of the biggest things that’s changed is that, for a 20-year-old industry, podcasting isn’t just a roll of the dice anymore. It really is a business.”

-Bryan Barletta (Founder, Sounds Profitable)

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Get your VIP pass to the hottest show in town! This week on The Media Roundtable, Daniel Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road) talks with Andrew Tenenbaum and Ben Duvdevani (Co-Founders, One More Time VIP) about how live events fit into the creator economy. From exclusive merch, meet and greets, live episodes and activations, there are many ways brands can unlock new revenue streams for creators. But how will it all pay off in the long run? Ben and Andrew take us backstage for an exclusive look.

“Creators are the new rock stars. They have incredibly loyal fan bases. It's not like a musical act, where an album comes out and then something else comes along. In the creator world, it's a constant stream. It's something you become attached to.”

-Andrew Tenenbaum (Co-Founder, One More Time VIP)

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The AMP Accords shared some big goals for better measurement in July. But what does real tangible progress look like today? Find out on this week’s installment of The Media Roundtable .

Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road) and Bryan Barletta (Partner, Sounds Profitable) join forces for a crossover episode with The Download podcast. They’re covering the industry’s shift away from downloads, the Bumper Score, and how to avoid a repeat of the iOS 17 drama. Let’s dig in.

“[Podcasters] build this stage and this venue and they fill it with people, and then they gotta drag it across the desert by themselves. Why don't we put some wheels on this thing?”

-Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road)

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Marketers often waste half their budget because attribution remains one of the industry’s biggest challenges. To get expert advice on how to deploy that spend more wisely, you need to check out this week’s installment of The Media Roundtable.

At this year’s CAO Summit, Giles Martin (EVP Strategy, Oxford Road) moderated a panel of experts focused on wrangling attribution with confidence. Sharing the stage with Giles were three bona fide attribution all-stars:

• Kezia Koo ( Fractional Growth Marketing Leader; ex-Indeed, Chegg, Amazon)
•  Brad Miller (SVP Marketing, SelectQuote)
• Jon Pease (Sr. Dir. Growth Marketing, MasterClass)

Together, they talked about attribution stacks, what MMMs can (and can’t) do, and the search for allies. Let’s dig in. 

“ MMM is like the mullet of measurement. It's back in style, but only because everything else stopped working.”

-Jon Pease (Sr. Dir. Growth Marketing, MasterClass)

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Few relationships can change a company’s fortune like finding the right creator to partner with. So, what’s the secret to making the most of creator partnerships that deliver results? Find out in this week’s installment of The Media Roundtable.

At this year’s CAO Summit,  Conor Doyle (President, Oxford Road) moderated a superstar panel discussing how to make the most of creator partnerships, even when you don’t have all the data. Taking the stage with him was an all-star team of industry veterans:

• Caitlin Bricker, (Sr. Manager, Influencer Marketing, DraftKings)
• Gavin Carr, (Head of Podcast & Emerging Media, Morgan & Morgan)
• Mandy McDonald, (VP, Partnerships & Affiliates, AG1)
• Morgan Melvan, (Sr. Manager, Offline Marketing, Ro)

Together, the panel talked about how buyers need to be great sellers; the best ways to help creators crawl, walk, and run; and why briefs can still be valuable. Let’s dig in. 

“The audience is so loyal to those creators that they will write in [the reviews]: ‘Oh, I  saw this on this YouTube channel, [and] had to give it a shot. He’s been talking about it for months.’”

-Mandy McDonald, (VP, Partnerships & Affiliates, AG1)

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Earlier this year, Forbes released its annual Top Creators list. This week, we have two of its highest-ranked names sharing their behind-the-scenes secrets. .

At Oxford Road’s CAO Summit this past July, Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road) welcomed two powerhouses of the creator economy: Dhar Mann (founder, Dhar Mann Studios) and John Allen, aka MrBallen (founder, Ballen Studios). In this in-depth conversation, the two stars talk about storytelling at scale, the benefits of paying attention to the comments section, and going beyond the brief. Let’s dive in.

“It does seem sort of fluky when somebody goes viral. I promise you it's not. Going viral might be fluky. Staying relevant is not.”

-John Allen, aka MrBallen (founder, Ballen Studios)

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It seems like AI is everywhere these days. But if you look at actual usage, only 50% of Americans use AI once a week. That’s roughly the same share of Americans who used the internet back in 2001.

If AI brands want to grow, there’s a hesitancy gap they’ll need to address. According to our new study with the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group®, audio is the perfect place to foster a brand campaign.

For details of our survey, as well as tips from our AI brand playbook, check out this week’s episode of The Media Roundtable.

First-time host Tucker Peleuses (Chief of Staff to the CEO, Oxford Road) welcomes Neal Lucey (EVP, Strategic Planning, Oxford Road) and Pierre Bouvard (Chief Insights Officer, Cumulus Media | Westwood One) to talk about AI’s split perceptions, audio wins, and why it’s important to remember that you’re not the customer. Let’s dive in.

“ If you're an AI brand and you think most Americans are aware of you, you've got a lot of work to do.”

- Neal Lucey (EVP, Strategy & Planning, Oxford Road)

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