AI tools like DALL-E and ChatGPT are all the rage. Fashion brands like Levi’s are using AI models in campaigns, and one agency introduced AI interns to edit photos, analyze news, and more.

Another form of AI that’s gaining some ground? Voice AI tools, which brands can use to create and replicate human-sounding voices to make personalized audio ads quickly and affordably. The practice doesn’t seem to have taken hold at scale yet, but execs with experience in voice and AI told Marketing Brew it has the potential to gain ground.

“Not only do you get [ad] creatives much faster—seconds, instead of on average five to six weeks—but also, you’re getting a lot more value,” Stas Tushinskiy, co-founder and CEO of AI voice marketing company Instreamatic, said. And while humans can’t “sit in the studio for days and days recording thousands of audio ad creatives,” he added, “AI can.”

Time is money: Imagine listening to Spotify and hearing an ad that says something like, “Hey, Spotify listener, before you start your podcast on this sunny day in New York City, let me tell you about Alyssa’s Juice Brand.” Without generative AI, that level of personalization is a pretty time-consuming proposition, execs told us.

Read the full story here.—AM

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There’s no shortage of “chiefs” in corporate America: chief happiness officers, chief meme officers, and many, many more. Point is, the C-suite is packed. But you most likely won’t find a chief audio officer (although you might come close in the form of a chief music officer).

“There’s probably never been anyone with the title of chief audio officer, and there probably never should be,” Dan Granger, founder and CEO of audio ad agency Oxford Road, told us. “However, even though it’s a handle that fits no one, if you are responsible for purchasing and stewardship decisions of an audio budget on behalf of a brand, you are the chief audio officer.”

That’s partly why the agency—along with Spotify, quip, and Tommy John—started the “Chief Audio Officer’s Club” in the hopes of providing them with a space to gather and exchange ideas as they increasingly turn to audio as a marketing channel.

Read more about the club here.—AM

Upfronts—including the IAB Podcast Upfront—are rapidly approaching. For marketers who might be considering investing in podcasts, now is a good time to brush up on some audience stats.

About half of US adults said they’ve listened to a podcast in the past year, according to a recent Pew Research Center study of more than 5,000 respondents. One in five said they listen at least a few times a week, a share that increases to about a third among adults under the age of 30.

Not your (grand)parents’ podcast: Younger US adults “are much more inclined than their elders to engage with podcasts,” according to Pew. About two-thirds (67%) of adults ages 18 to 29 said they’ve listened to a podcast in the past year.

On average, “younger adults also listen to more podcasts,” the research found: 63% of podcast listeners under the age of 50 said they’re currently listening to at least two shows, while 54% of listeners between 50 and 64 and 40% of listeners 65 and older said the same.

Podcast persuasion: Podcasts have the potential to move listeners to action—such as lifestyle changes and purchases—the report suggests.

• Three in five podcast listeners said they’ve read a book, watched a movie, or listened to music because of a podcast, and 36% said they’ve made (or tried) a lifestyle change, like a new diet.
• More than a quarter (28%) said they’ve bought something that was promoted or discussed on a pod.

The “why”: Many podcast listeners are in it for entertainment and background noise—but also to learn new things. Of the six possible reasons for listening to podcasts presented by Pew, the largest shares of listeners said they tuned in to learn (88%) or be entertained (87%).

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