Branded podcast agency Fresh Air Production has appointed Basil Oxtoby as the company’s first in-house audio engineer and Nik Gandhi as its new marketing manager.
The new appointments represent part of Fresh Air’s initiative to expand its podcast production team in 2023, in order to meet the rising demand for branded podcasts that it received last year. Neil Cowling, Founder of Fresh Air, said that the company saw over 50% growth year-on-year and has over 90 audio series in production.
Oxtoby is a former BBC studio director with experience across the platform’s podcasts, including acting as a technical producer on the daily current affairs podcast Newscast - which was the broadcaster's most popular podcast over the holiday season.Oxtoby will be running recording sessions across Fresh Air’s studio in Tileyard and Kings Cross, as well as mixing the finished podcasts.
Also coming with previous experience in podcasting is Gandhi, who previously worked as the senior marketing and account executive at production company Listen, recently announced as the producers for the latest series of the official Love Island companion podcast.
“Brands now understand that the marketing of a podcast is just as important as the production and so we’ve seen a tremendous increase in demand for strategic planning and buying media on behalf of our clients,” said Cowling. “Bringing Nik on board is part of Fresh Air offering the full package as podcasts become a mature part of the marketing mix.”
“Added to that, the podcast listener is becoming more and more discerning, so of course brands want their sound and production quality to be as high as it would be for broadcast radio,” Cowling added. “Basil has spent his time on stations such as Radio 4 and 5Live, and so he’s a great addition to both run the studios and make sure we’re always hitting the highest standards of output.”
