IAB Europe - Buyer's Guide to Digital Audio

In November 2020 , IAB Europe released its ‘Buyer’s Guide to Digital Audio’ to help planners and buyers of media navigate the opportunities that a new world of audio creates for marketers. 

This guide has been developed by experts from IAB Europe’s Channels & Formats Taskforce (a part of the Brand Advertising Committee). It provides harmonised definitions for digital audio in Europe, an overview of the evolution of audio advertising and the landscape in Europe, as well as key considerations and best practices for digital audio advertising. In doing so, it ensures that buyers of traditional audio and buyers of digital advertising have the necessary knowledge to implement effective digital audio advertising campaigns.

Digital audio is reaching a pivotal moment, where it is critical for buyers to understand this channel and to maximise their digital investment in it. With the boom in smart speakers and other connected devices, consumers now have the ability to access streaming audio content, however, or wherever they like. Unlike other media, this makes digital audio unique in that it can be a constant companion. It moves with consumers whether they’re on-the-go or winding down and comes in a variety of forms, from spoken word to podcasts to music and more. This offers fantastic opportunities for advertisers to reach engaged audiences. Digital audio is now paving the way for greater connection with audiences and has the ability to address consumers in a more personal way.  As such, the Digital Audio Guide serves as a unique resource and key tool for advertisers to get a better understanding of how large the audio opportunity is and how to capitalise on it in the coming months and years. 

It has been a collaborative effort to produce this first European-level guide for Digital Audio, with contributors including Spotify, Magnite, Oracle Data Cloud, Triton Digital and Xaxis. Representatives from IAB Finland and IAB Italy also contributed their knowledge. 

A big thank you to the following contributors:

• Clementina Piazza, Automation Lead UK, Spotify & Chair of IAB Europe Brand Advertising Committee
• Marco Bertozzi, VP EMEA & Multi-Market Global Sales, Spotify
• Steve Wing, Head of EMEA, Magnite
• Moomal Shaikh, Senior Product manager, Oracle Data Cloud
• Artur Semionov, Head of Product & Innovation, EMEA, Xaxis
• André Charles-Foster, Product & Innovation Manager, EMEA, Xaxis
• Benjamin Masse, Managing Director, Market Development & Strategy, Triton Digital
• Ivone Schramm, Market Operations Manager, Triton Digital
• Giordano Buttazzo, Ad Tech Manager, IAB Italy
• Mira Vaurula, Head of Business Development, IAB Finland