ALL AUDIO IS NOT CREATED EQUAL: To kick things off today I’d like to share one of the best articulations of the advantages of Digital Audio over AM/FM Radio I’ve ever read. It comes from Pandora’s SVP of Agency Partnerships Alan Schanzer, and it’s featured in the attached
Diverge link. For most of the last decade radio broadcasters have screamed about digital audio pureplays like Pandora, Spotify, Apple, etc. not being the same as “Radio” because they were trying to protect their legacy ad revenue. Well they may have been right all along! The streamers’ ability to serve audio ads in a one-to-one environment, using first party data to target individual listeners, and guarantee ad delivery makes streaming The Jetson’s compared to Fred Flintstone radio. Listeners already know digital streaming provides a more personalized experience across a multitude of connected devices, which is why broadcast radio TSL keeps declining as Digital Audio usage increases. So it’s more important than ever for clients and agencies to understand the differences too, and continue migrating their audio dollars from broadcast to streaming in order to achieve a better ROAS on their audio investment.
APPLE GETS INTO THE HOME SPEAKER GAME: During yesterday’s kickoff of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference Tim Cook debuted their long-awaited voice enabled home speaker called HomePod. The system, which looks similar to an Amazon Echo, will interface with Siri and also a generic “musicologist” who can help navigate song selections. Households which have Apple’s HomeKit installed can also use the HomePod as the input portal for other non-Apple IoT connected devices. On the down side HomePods won’t be available until November and are pricy at $349. By comparison Echos are priced in the $150-200 range and feature Dot extenders for only $49. Apple is trying to position this device as more of a premium speaker (think of a smart version of Sonos), and less of a voice-enablement platform for your home. But this position requires listeners to want a better speaker experience then they currently hear from Echo. Given Amazon’s considerable lead in the space and price advantage you wonder if Apple can be competitive in this sector. There was a ton of press on this yesterday. To give you a full spectrum of coverage here’s the TechCrunch link with a general overview, and a more in-depth coverage in this RAIN link.

IT’S OK TO SWIM WITH THE ORCAS, AS LONG AS YOU DON’T FORGET THE PLANKTON: Finally today, here’s a life lesson in management which was gleaned during an elevator ride the author of this LinkedIn article took many years ago. We’ve all been in the situation described at some point in our careers. As young guns at our respective companies we had to work harder and longer than others to get ahead. The motivation for making this sacrifice was present in our offices – the senior level Orca we would someday like to become. In staying with the author’s marine life analogy, there’s nothing wrong with being the bottom-rung-on-the-ladder plankton, just like it can be a worthy career goal to become the mighty orca. But orcahood (yes, that’s a made up word), comes with one responsibility . . . that you never forget where you came from. Almost all successful executives started off as plankton and swam the same journey as today’s junior employees. By staying connected to that past, and showing true empathy and appreciation for the bust ass work today’s plankton are doing, leaders will inspire those around them to keep pushing upward. But the same works in reverse – forget where you came from and risk becoming the loner sea creature everyone is scared of and nobody wants to be.
Have a great Tuesday guys!