In the first part of the VOXNEST company's report titled "The world of podcasts in 2020–Part 1" we became familiar with in-podcast advertising as well as with the new giant of this field, Spotify. In the second part of this report we introduce a new type of in-podcast advertising as well as the growth of the podcast industry in different countries.
The evolution of podcast advertising
While host-read ads still play an important role in in-podcast advertising, another type of advertising combining dynamic ads and host-read ads has recently taken shape. Combining dynamic ads and programmatic advertising is not new; rather combining dynamic ads with host-read ads, which are often used interchangeably, is a new development that is referred to as the deadly weapon of success. Dynamism in advertising means creating and adding an ad to the podcast after the podcast has been made. These dynamic ads can be programmatic or ads made by the hosts.
Dynamic advertising in podcasts is far more effective than older types of podcast advertising.
Two advantages of dynamic host-read ads can be mentioned. First, in this method it is still possible to advertise with the help of hosts, which is a source of enjoyment for listeners and advertisers. According to Nielsen, these ads "are generally described by recipients as authentic and credible and do not feel imposed on the customer". Second, this advertising method allows hosts to keep their ad relevant to the topic. In this method, brands can record a new ad tailored to each of their advertising campaigns and place it inside the podcast in place of the previous ad. Marketing and advertising specialists know how important specificity and urgency are; therefore combining the dynamism of an ad with the eloquence of the host is an effective way to attract listeners.
More and more brands and agencies are looking to run their advertising this way and have also seen very good results. According to the shoe brand Puma, their first advertising campaign using this method had a 180 percent return.
The war between Apple and Spotify intensifies
We previously mentioned Spotify's economic risks this year. It is noteworthy how their podcast business model has paid off by attracting real listeners on their platform. According to a CNN report, Spotify acknowledges that they are ahead of Apple in more than 60 markets. Based on our data, this figure is in fact a little modest and they are in fact leading in more than 80 markets.
Where will the battle of the two empires end up?
The first quarter of this year alone had very striking results for Spotify. Spotify not only dominated several larger countries such as Australia and Ireland; it finally also succeeded in reducing Apple's hold on podcast listeners in the United States—the land of the iPhone. Until the end of May, Spotify could not take over the various states, but it was able to lead in one-month periods in California, New York and New Jersey. We expect this tug-of-war to continue, with Spotify doubling its efforts in the podcast field. In the first five months of this year in the United States, Spotify saw 32 percent growth in listeners while this figure for Apple was only 13 percent. From a global perspective, Spotify's progress was even more striking and they had 51 percent growth in their podcasts being heard, compared with Apple's 20 percent.
In the war of these two platforms over share of voice (not counting other platforms), Apple owns 59 percent and Spotify 41 percent of listeners. Whereas in the same period last year, Apple's share was 77 and Spotify's share was 23 percent.
| Regions that Spotify captured in April and May 2020! | Regions that Apple took back from Spotify! |
| Moldova | French Guiana |
| North Macedonia | Lesotho |
| Azerbaijan | Svalbard and Jan Mayen |
| Turkmenistan | Qatar |
| Bangladesh | Vietnam |
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that there is no doubt about the popularity of podcasts in North America. But what matters is the growth of the podcast industry around the world. It is not far-fetched to say that the world has become an oyster for podcasts. Podcast fans in Spanish-speaking countries are increasing because of the growth of podcast production there, which itself contributes greatly to the growth of the podcast industry. In the meantime, however, the presence of countries such as Turkey, India, the Philippines and New Zealand on the list of the top 10 countries in podcast use in the first five months of 2020 is noteworthy. In the end we introduce the 10 countries where podcasts have had the greatest growth.
- Turkey
- India
- Colombia
- Argentina
- Brazil
- the Philippines
- Germany
- New Zealand
- Chile
- Mexico
To view other cultural industries please visit the site's home page.
Machine-translated from Persian by Namafar; the Persian original is authoritative. Read the original in Persian