Broadcasting company ARN’s iHeart Podcast Network has announced that Amazon retained its place as Australia’s top podcast advertiser in Q4 2022.
The full report lists the nation’s top 15 podcast advertisers with data derived from podcast advertising analytics company Magellan AI, based on analysis of “thousands” of podcast episodes across more than 400 of the most popular podcasts in Australia.
Following Amazon on the list is fast-food company McDonald’s, which also remained as the second top podcast advertisers since Q3 2022. Streaming network Paramount+ replaced online bookmaker company Neds in third place and entered the top 15 list for the first time, likely as a result of the TV & Film podcast genre experiencing an increase in investment up to 110% year-on-year.
According to the report, all other podcast genres saw an increase in investment YoY except for Technology, with some of the highest including Education up to 100% and True Crime up to 87%. As a result, Open Universities Australia became the 7th top podcast advertisers in Q4 2022, replacing insurance company Budget Direct.
Overall, Australian podcast advertising grew by 36% year-on-year and new advertisers across a range of categories made appearances on ARN’s list for the first time including Aldi, Flutter Entertainment, HSBC, Bupa, Wild Turkey Distilling Company, CommBank, 7-Eleven, Kimberly Clark, and Visaprint.
Comparing Australia’s podcast advertising space to the US, mental health services platform BetterHelp is the lead podcast advertiser according to data from Magellan AI on the top 15 advertisers in the US, with Amazon following behind in second place.
According to Acast CEO Ross Adams who spoke to PodPod on a previous episode about podcast advertising in the US, the reason companies such as BetterHelp and Amazon are likely to dominate in that space is due to the nation’s reliance on direct response advertisers while Europe is more likely to focus on digital first.
“So if you look at the big holding companies, the Publicises, the WPPs of this world, they spend a huge amount on podcasting,” said Adams. “And if you look at the podcast market in the UK and Europe, the big chunk of the spend, the majority chunk, comes through the major agency groups. You look at the US, and that's the exact opposite.”
