Like your Facebook relationship status circa 2008, the podcast industry’s relationship with programmatic advertising could be best described as “it’s complicated.”

Programmatic advertising represents a small portion of podcast ad spend. It accounted for 2% of spend in 2021, per the IAB. By 2024, that share is expected to grow to just under 10%, Insider Intelligence predicted.

• One of the companies trying to drive that growth is AdsWizz, a tech platform for digital audio owned by SiriusXM that includes an audio-centric supply-side platform called AudioMax and its demand-side counterpart, AudioMatic.
• AdsWizz is one of the predominant forces in audio ad tech, claiming to operate the first marketplace of podcast-only inventory.
• “The usage is really taking off more in the last year,” Anne Frisbie, SVP of global business development at AdsWizz, told Marketing Brew.

Even as podcasts have become more popular over the years, some audio buyers and sellers still aren’t totally sold on programmatic advertising, since the industry has historically found success with host-read ads.

Still, thousands of publishers and dozens of agencies transact programmatically to some extent through AudioMax and AudioMatic these days, according to Frisbie. She said current economic conditions give her reason to believe even more will buy into programmatic this year.

Read the full story here.—AM

Despite what the internet may tell you, building a successful DTC empire doesn’t happen overnight. Once you’ve established a customer base, success can often boil down to two things: customer engagement and loyalty, two of the hardest things to earn as a new brand.

Retail Brew connected with top retailers—Mejuri, Casper, and Peloton—to talk about the marketing strategies they use to keep customers coming back and spreading the word. If you work in retail, this guide is for you. Download it now.

Next week, the silliest most extravagant event in advertising kicks off: the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. While agencies and marketers get awards, for many attendees, the actual festival takes a backseat to the schmoozing done along La Croisette.

Marketing Brew’s Katie Hicks will be at the festival, so be sure to read her daily dispatches in our newsletter next week. She’ll be one of about 15,000 people on the ground.

Backing up: Last year, Netflix’s ad ambitions were the talk of the town. So was the metaverse. Amazon, Roku, and TikTok each made their own official debuts at the festival as well.

This year: AI will be buzzy. Brad Lightcap, COO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, is scheduled to appear on a panel about generative AI and “the future of creativity.” We bet Google and Meta, who each have their own beach at the festival, won’t shy away from the topic either.

Take a bite: Apple is expected to have a bigger presence at the festival than previous years, renting a space atop the Carlton hotel, though it’s unclear what the company will be pitching: its streaming offerings, its DSP, or both.

Tweet, tweet: Twitter’s prime spot on the beach has been taken by Influential, an influencer marketing platform. It’s unclear if Elon Musk or Twitter’s new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, will attend. The Wall Street Journal said that Yaccarino “isn’t expected at Cannes,” while Insider reported that they’re both “widely expected to attend.”

Awkward?: AB InBev is expected to be honored as 2023’s Creative Marketer of the Year. That announcement was made in March, just before a sponsored post from trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney led to a right-wing boycott of Bud Light and the company placing two of its lead marketers on leave.—RB

Each week, Marketing Brew recaps what people are talking about on social media, the trends that took over our feeds, and how marketers are responding.

Purple people shake eater: McDonald’s social media seems to be all about Grimace these days. The purple giant’s birthday was apparently June 12, and he (she? it?) has been making appearances across the company’s accounts in celebration (and to promote Grimace’s “birthday meal,” which includes a berry-flavored shake). Even the things that don’t exactly make sense seem to be getting engagement.

Drink up: Joe & the Juice appears to be taking a page out of Erewhon’s book, creating a custom shake with influencer Serena Kerrigan. Now you don’t necessarily have to be in LA to get a drink inspired by your favorite influencer, unless you’re passionate about supporting the likes of Tinx and Bella Hadid.

TBT: American Girl saw an opportunity to engage ’90s and ’00s kids and ran with it. The company posted a TikTok poking fun at the necessary—yet sometimes jarring—information contained in its The Care & Keeping of You books. Ah, the collective trauma nostalgia.—KH

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Title: The Reuters Institute released its 2023 Digital News Report on online news consumption habits. Read the full report here.

Toolkit: Meta unveiled new tools for creators, from Reels templates to analytic capabilities. Take a look here.

Shut it down: An explainer on the Reddit blackout.

Level up: There’s no crash course on becoming a better manager—until now. Our New Manager Bootcamp on demand is built to make you better at your job (at your own pace). Gain instant access now.

Main character energy: As the influencer marketing industry approaches $21b, Captiv8 is bringing that magic to Cannes Lions with activations. Learn how brands are reimagining influencer strategies.

Stories we’re jealous of.

• The Atlantic wrote about why social media’s impact on teens is still largely unknown.
• Vox looked at the brands profiting off the “anti-woke, anti-trans backlash.”
• The New York Times wrote about the pandemic-fueled rise of the “dadfluencer.”