Independent podcast company, Acast, has further grown its Australia and New Zealand team, hiring Daisy Smith as the region’s new automation director.
Having jumped ship from Nielsen, Smith will now lead Acast’s local programmatic advertising
offering, as the company continues to develop automated ad buying for agencies and
direct clients.
Smith boasts previous experience with Multi Channel Network, WooliesX, and Nielsen, the latter of which she spent three years working in both the Australia and UK offices.
With an audio speciality, Smith uses data and tech to facilitate a deeper understanding of listeners to help publishers better monetise their audience and inventory.
Acast’s automation focus is on contextual targeting, relying on and understanding the context
of the conversations happening within podcasts.
That includes keyword targeting using AI-powered speech-to-text transcription, and curated podcast collections hand picked by experienced global content teams.
This works particularly well in podcasting versus other channels because of the wide range of genres — both niche and mainstream — that are available.
“Our Automated offering is well established globally, so I’m looking forward to working with key strategic partners across Australia and New Zealand to align this with the needs of our local market,” said Smith.
“My role is to help our buyers understand how effective programmatic advertising can be within podcasting, because the medium offers unique opportunities for brands of all shapes and sizes.”
Acast Australia and New Zealand’s managing director, Henrik Isaksson, added, “Australia was where we first tested our programmatic solution for podcasting, but — with advancements in contextual targeting, and partnerships with the likes of Nielsen, as well as improved transparency and measurement — we felt now was the right time to bring in a local lead.”
“Having Daisy as a dedicated part of our team for Australia and New Zealand, focusing on
making automation work for our clients, is another step up for us here.”
