An inside look at audio advertising at Bauer Media Sweden
Louise Lundgren, Head of B2B and Relations, talks all things audio and how Ocast developed their ad sales in this interview.
Louise Lundgren, Head of B2B and Relations at Bauer Media Sweden, knows audio media.
Working with Louise and Bauer Media Sweden was an experience that opened my eyes to understand audio advertising as more than just a listener. It was stunning to discover the power and reach of audio from developing Bauer Media Sweden’s media kit with Louise.
You see, I’m a podcast person.
My daily commute is my time to zone out, plug into my headphones and mentally prepare to become a human sardine in Stockholm’s public transportation system. 🐟
I disconnect from the buzz and become hyper connected to my podcast when a mid-roll ad begins to play. And I listen patiently because this doesn’t scream ad. It’s a couple of “friends” telling me about a potentially valuable product in 30 seconds of chatter. For the advertiser, this effectively reached an engaged audience member with a variation of word-of mouth marketing.
As Louise mentions below, matching the right advertiser with the right podcast is a part of what makes this successful. And she knows the power of audio. I witnessed Louise meticulously and enthusiastically transform Bauer Media Sweden’s static media information into a collaborative team space and digital media kit with Ocast, her knowledge and ambition was obvious.
Which is why I’m especially pleased to feature her in this interview. 👇
Louise offers up her thoughts on audio advertising Ocast, Bauer Media in 2018 and more.
Tell us about Bauer Media Sweden. 🎙
Bauer Media sells and delivers a daily dose of simple and uncomplicated content to attractive audiences. This is encompassed in everything we do for listeners, customers, partners and current and future employees.
Bauer Media is largest in Sweden in audio with 5 million Swedes listening to our radio stations and podcasts every week.
From the beginning, Bauer Media was simply a radio company. The company began with Sweden’s largest radio station Mix Megapol, the network Rockklassiker, Vinyl and Svensk Pop, plus the hit radio station, NRJ.
A few years back we invested heavily in podcasts, which has opened up a whole new audience group. Today, we power some of the biggest podcasts in Sweden like Mordpodden, Historiepodden, Svenska mordhistorier and Alla våra ligg.
What is your role at Bauer Media Sweden?
My role is to get more people advertising in sound and to strengthen Bauer Media’s position with advertisers as well as advertising and media agencies. To be successful, I believe in creating activities that inform and inspire and in turn, drive the audio industry forward.
I’ve got a truly exciting job, especially with the interest surrounding audio being so huge. Like I usually say,
We’re in the middle of an audio boom.
Never before has there been so much consumption of audio. Investments in audio media are constantly beating standing records. And on top of this, tech innovation within audio, like voice controlled devices, is also booming.
What differentiates Bauer Media as a media group?
What differentiates Bauer Media from other media groups is that we have chosen a singular medium to work with — audio.
In this arena, we are going to be the best — we’re creating the next generation of audio content.
What are some noteworthy events from 2017?
In November, we had a wildly successful event all about audio in collaboration with Resume, called Sound Stockholm. Along with this, we participated in Mediadagen, AdDay, Stockholm Media week and NextM. At these events, we live recorded these experiences on the Sound of Inspiration podcasts on RadioPlay.
Listen to Eric Gisaeus on Sound of Inspiration here!
Throughout 2017, we worked on a new concept called, SoundLab, which is an audio concept where an artist tells listeners about exciting audio instillations and involves the listener in participating in their own sound experiment. 2018 we’ll continue to build on the concept, develop SoundLab and get more agencies and customers involved.
After seeing the potential in 2017, we know there is work to be done to put Bauer Media on the map — from pushing more creative boundaries and becoming even better in working with advertising agencies.
Bauer is not alone in driving the audio industry forward. Which is why last year, together with Resumé, we introduced the Stockholm Sound Award, to acknowledge, reward and stimulate creativity in audio media. Stay tuned for more on this!
What are the unique benefits of advertising with audio?
More and more advertisers have discovered the powerful effect of working with people’s senses in marketing.
Hearing is one of our strongest senses to evoke individual feelings, memories, images and connections to brands and events in different ways.
We’ve heard from a growing amount of customers the marked effect of radio and that it evokes feelings much more intensely than other forms of far reaching media.
What are the pros of advertising with a podcast?
Podcast listeners are very loyal. There is a strong relationship between podcast creator and listener. When a brand enters this trusted environment, the podcast host is an ambassador and the entire message is strengthened in a way that is difficult to replicate or achieve through traditional media.
If the host presents the ad naturally and personally, relating with personal anecdotes, the message becomes even more impactful and effective.
What are the challenges in selling and marketing podcast ad space?
There has been an uncertainty about investing in podcasts, partially because it’s a new form of collaboration and partially because there has been so many different types of numbers regarding reach throughout the market.
With the new podcast validation system in Sweden, there is more trust in the reach.
It is important to understand reach isn’t everything. I would even say it is a secondary, but useful, tool for the investor.
For us as a sales force, it has been a challenge and transition to go from selling purely by reach and frequency. The argument around this settled and we’ve invested in building valuable cases to show solutions and results from buyers based on common needs. So far, this has been successful in accommodating marketing our podcasts.
There is also a lot of talk about micro influencers and their power. This is exactly what podcasts offer. It is important to us to rise to the challenge here of connecting the advertiser with the right podcast, right listeners, and in the right environment. After all, the perfect match gives the best results and effect.
What trends are you seeing in radio and podcast advertising?
Thanks to the high demand in market, radio sales are booming. Similarly, the curiosity and interest circling around partnering with podcasts is really high.
We are thrilled that in Sweden, the “podcastvalutan” or podcast validation system, has launched. Because podcasts are perceived as relatively new, this validation will increase investment in podcasts. As the selection of podcasts increase, the amount of listeners grow and more brands are awakened to the power of collaborating. Thanks to this growth, podcast interest is skyrocketing.
What are your predictions for the audio industry and Bauer Media Sweden in 2018?
2018 is going to be an exciting year for commercial radio. On August 1st, we’ll be expanding three national networks to have an even larger reach thanks to new, bigger licenses. With the increase of reach, I predict this expansion to be the most popular for us in 2018.
I am also looking forward to seeing if voice-technology like Google Home, Amazon Echo and Amazon Alexa will strike it big in Sweden. This will be a fascinating development to follow in the Swedish market.
Now that your media kit is digital at Ocast.com, how has the role of your media kit changed?
It’s incredibly nice to finally have everything in one place and so easily accessible. It’s been appreciated both internally and externally.
The process was initially rather extensive for us to review our offers and packaging, but likewise was very educational, useful and necessary. Now we’re entering the next phase to be proactive — constantly reviewing and developing our product portfolio to fit and drive the market forward. Our goal is to always deliver the best products with a creative edge!
I also want to take the opportunity to give a huge thanks to the team at Ocast for pushing us, the fantastic commitment and time dedicated to helping us succeed. It has been incredibly fun working with Ocast!
As for us at Ocast, in 2017 we announced an exclusive partnership between Ocast and Sweden’s media agencies. This an adventure and partnership we are looking forward to developing.
What are you looking forward to for the future of Bauer Media’s partnership with Ocast?
We want to contribute to creating simplicity in the [advertising] buying process and this is a door Ocast has opened up.
With everything gathered in one place, digitally, and the content quality assured — the platform feels like a serious opportunity and that is something we want to be apart of.
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