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Spotify Advertising Week Panel Highlights Fandom as Powerful Driver for Brand Growth and Audience Engagement
Spotify presented Advertising Week New York panel emphasizing audio platform’s role as “home of fandom and culture” where fans actively participate, connect and invest in artists they love, creating significant opportunities for advertisers to reach highly engaged audiences driving performance. Jenny Haggard, head of global thought leadership at Spotify, described how platform enables advertisers to reach audiences through fan passion, with panel featuring major brands sharing fandom strategies including McDonald’s chief loyalty and engagement officer Allegra Krishnan discussing limited-time “A Minecraft Movie” meal deal succeeding through co-creation with franchise rather than mere sponsorship. JPMorgan Chase chief media officer Tracy-Ann Lim outlined need for long-term involvement beyond one-off sponsorships to demonstrate brands share fan passion, citing company’s 44-year US Open sponsorship as example of credibility-building commitment. Research shows 79% of adults respond positively to brands engaging in communities while 70% favor brands contributing meaningfully, with younger audiences showing particularly strong engagement as 73% of 18-34-year-olds consider fandom positive life component and 64% more likely to purchase from sponsors of content they love according to Ipsos data. Spotify panel emphasized advertisers should tap into fandoms aligning naturally with brand offerings and key audiences while creating targeted content through co-creation and long-term partnerships rather than generic advertising strategies targeting broad demographics, with passionate communities around podcasts, music and media representing most engaged and loyal audiences available for growth opportunities.
Wolf Entertainment Partners with Pinna to Launch First Children’s Podcast “Patrick Picklebottom: Everyday Mysteries” Debuting October 14
Wolf Entertainment, production powerhouse behind television crime drama universes including Law & Order and One Chicago series, partnered with Pinna—Realm’s kids and family vertical—to launch first children’s property audio series “Patrick Picklebottom: Everyday Mysteries” debuting October 14 on all major podcast platforms with first four episodes available exclusively to Pinna subscribers. Series inspired by beloved children’s book series by author Jay Miletsky follows adventures of precocious 11-year-old Patrick with love for reading and uncanny mystery-solving ability, with each episode presenting new neighborhood riddle for Patrick and friends to unravel while encouraging young listeners to sharpen critical thinking and analytical skills alongside young detective through eight-episode first season. Dick Wolf, president of Wolf Entertainment, stated “As company behind some of most iconic crime stories, it was only natural to share excitement of solving mysteries with kids” with Patrick Picklebottom representing perfect starting point for children’s content expansion, while Molly Barton, CEO of Realm, described partnership as “perfect fit for Pinna families who love to bring high-quality and engaging audio into car and kitchen.” Case-of-the-week format ensures new engaging mystery presented in every episode providing unique opportunity for listeners to participate as “detectives-in-training” identifying clues and deducing solutions to puzzles presented, with podcast premiering October 14 with first two episodes available on all podcast platforms while first four episodes exclusively available to Pinna subscribers followed by weekly new mystery releases. Wolf Entertainment move represents significant expansion for company which accumulated over 1.2 million TikTok followers and 1.3 billion social video views across platforms while previously producing scripted drama podcasts including “Eavesdropper” and “Hunted,” marking first foray into children’s content creation with hardcover Patrick Picklebottom books also arriving this fall enabling fans to enjoy adventures in print format.
Acast Appoints Laura Hagen as SVP Regional MD Americas and Global Head of Agency Relations Following 70% North American Sales Growth
Acast, world’s largest independent podcast company, appointed Laura Hagen as SVP Regional MD Americas and Global Head of Agency Relations following 70% increase in North American net sales in Q2 2025 alone, with appointment underscoring company’s global expansion strategy positioning Americas as key growth engine. Strategic leadership move follows appointment of US-based CEO Greg Glenday in June 2025 and acquisition of Wonder Media Network in January 2025, with Glenday stating Hagen possesses “incredible track record of delivering results” with background “tailor-made for Acast’s next decade” having built high-performance teams across audio, creative sales, digital and data covering company’s strategic priorities. Hagen joins organization from leadership roles at Zeta Global and iHeartMedia bringing deep expertise leveraging large proprietary data sets, artificial intelligence and identity graphs necessary for Acast’s technology-driven approach, with strong track record creating and selling cross-platform marketing solutions complementing Acast Creative Studios’ focus on developing omnichannel deals for advertisers. Hagen stated she is “energized to join Acast at this pivotal moment of growth” with goal of bridging gap between highly engaged audiences and brands seeking connections as “podcast market is maturing at extremely rapid pace,” joining innovative company leading industry forward. Acast recognizes fragmented nature of podcasting industry and provides unified solution empowering creators to grow and monetize while giving advertisers smart ways to buy at scale, with North America driving 70% net sales growth positioning company to capitalize on momentum and potentially gain market share against competitors including Spotify’s Megaphone and other major hosting and monetization platforms.
IAB Australia Welcomes 16 New Members Including Netflix and Pfizer Australia to Support Sustainable Digital Advertising Growth
IAB Australia welcomed 16 new members including Netflix, Pfizer Australia and Wesfarmers retail media business One Media alongside Ebiquity, Mortar AI, ND Agency, Strike Social, TopSort, Vantage, Thorndyke, Gain Theory, Bonfire, Media Merchants, Dynata, Audio Stack and LinkedIn to support growing sustainable and diverse investment in digital advertising across Australia. All IAB members participate in industry body either through Councils and Working Groups or as general members, with more than 300 industry leaders feeding into IAB Council and Working Groups providing broad collective voice addressing key issues and challenges faced by industry, marketers and members’ own organizations through work including helping set Australian-specific standards and guidelines, driving education initiatives and developing key industry resources. Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia, commented “Each new member brings unique perspective to how digital advertising can evolve responsibly and drive growth in Australia” noting strength of IAB community lies in bringing diverse players together from streaming and retail media to data and measurement to solve real-world challenges and build smarter, more accountable practices. Membership expansion brings streaming giants like Netflix and data companies like Audio Stack into standards-setting and measurement practices development, potentially increasing advertising dollars flowing into audio formats including podcasts across mature Australian digital advertising market. Industry collaboration through IAB Australia helps ensure sustainable growth rather than boom-and-bust cycles that can negatively impact creators and advertisers, with new members representing diverse perspectives across digital advertising ecosystem from entertainment platforms to pharmaceutical companies and retail media businesses.
USG Audio, Novel and PRX Launch “Mission K-Pop” Documentary Podcast Following Woman’s Journey to Become Global K-Pop Idol
USG Audio, Novel and PRX partnered to produce “Mission K-Pop” audio documentary podcast series following 23-year-old Caty Szeto’s journey leaving Los Angeles home for Seoul, South Korea to train at K-Pop academy pursuing dream of becoming global idol, launching October 13 with weekly Monday episodes across all major podcast platforms. Recent New York University graduate with Bachelor of Music in Music Business immerses herself in singing, dancing and styling lessons preparing for high-stakes auditions with entertainment agencies while confronting rigorous demands and emotional challenges of K-Pop industry from perfectionist standards to questions of identity and belonging. Series hosted by journalist Haeryun Kang who previously penned Rolling Stone cover story on K-Pop superstars Blackpink, with Kang shadowing Caty’s journey documenting exhilaration and heartbreak of chasing pop fantasy stating she was “astounded to see how far K-Pop dream had spread all over world to someone like Caty” hoping audiences can connect to “daring joy of falling in love with dream.” Stephanie Kuo, VP of Content at PRX, described K-Pop as “significant, expanding part of our culture” with series representing “universal tale of ambition and persistence” resonating with anyone who has pursued dream through nuanced surprise and powerful storytelling, while Novel co-founder and Chief Content Officer Max O’Brien called project “beautifully produced series about hopes and dreams” noting challenge and pleasure crafting “deeply emotive narrative podcast that doesn’t rely on true crime to deliver high drama and tension.” Series blends cultural storytelling and documentary intimacy capturing ambition, artistry and challenges at heart of one of world’s most powerful cultural movements through personal journey letting listeners tap into extraordinary K-Pop universe, with episodes dropping weekly on Mondays beginning October 13 across all major podcast platforms.
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