NPR Steps Up Its Smart Speaker Game for Audiences and Sponsors

Smart speaker sales and usage are boomingamp160 According to the Smart Audio Report from NPR and Edison Research 53 million American adults 18 owned a smart speaker as of January 2019 including 14 million new owners last year alone with more than half owning multiple speakersamp160amp160New data from Triton Digitalamp160finds that the portion of online radio listening on smart speakers has more than doubled since January 2018 contributing to an overall 4 increase in time spent with AMFM radio streamsamp160 As these devices push into mainstream use audio publishers brands and advertisers are stepping up their gameMediaVillage interviewed NPM39s COO Bryan Moffett and NPR39s Senior Product Manager for Emerging Platforms HaHoa Hamano about the ingredients of a goodamp160smart speaker experience how NPM is involving sponsors in voice and why traditional commercial radio ads don39t work well on smart speakersAlli Romano amp160What does your research show you about the types of content smart speaker owners want from audio companiesHaHoa Hamanoamp160 We see dayparting as a big thingamp160 In the morning we see great engagement in our short quick and timely newscastsamp160 In the afternoons and evenings there is an appetite for longerform contentamp160 We39re trying to fold that into the way we deliver the content through some of our personalized listening experiences such as NPR Oneamp160 We39re really focused on getting the right content to the right peopleamp160 We want to get longer stories in front of the folks that want to hear longer stories and podcastsamp160 For the news hounds we want to still give them news if that39s what they want in the eveningRomanoamp160 How much do you find people are starting to engage directly through speakers39 native features or through their smartphone via Bluetoothamp160 Does it make a difference from a publisher39s perspective how users access content on the speaker amp160Hamanoamp160amp160When you39re accessing content from the smart speaker using the native features there are a lot of opportunities to signal that you want more listening or contextamp160 It39s more dynamicamp160 NPR can serve you the hourly newscast and then we can serve you a followup pieceamp160 If it39s first thing in the morning when you listen things may have changed since you last tuned in and we39ll happily give you the followup piece thereamp160 The platform allows you to dive into the other deeper stories to change courseamp160 If you39re just casting audio from another device and playing it through the speaker it39s not as natural or native to the platform to onramp to other contentRomanoamp160 Advertisers are watching with a lot of interestamp160 How are you working with brands to develop sponsorships for voice Bryan Moffettamp160 NPR launched voiceactivated sponsorships in mobile apps back in 2014amp160 Fastforward to 2017amp160the very first sponsor messages on smart speakers were similar to the sponsor messaging formats NPR audiences are already accustomed to hearingamp160 They were broadcast credits in live station streams midrolls in podcast episodes and postroll on NPR39s new flash briefing offeringsamp160As the audience on this platform has grown and become more comfortable using voice activation and the technology has developed we39ve rolled out native offerings that leverage the platform39s interactive natureamp160 Most recently we began building voice landing pages where audiences can choose to dive deeper into an audio content experience from one of our sponsors on an Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant device after they hear a prompt in a postrollThe voice landing pages are very newamp160 We39ve done them with Lagunitas and Target those two have run already and we have a few others in production that we are excited to launch soonRomanoamp160 In your early experience what39s most effectiveamp160 Is it treating voice sponsorship the same way you do onairamp160 Like the quotWait Wait Quizquot was brought to me by Capital One and there was a short standard sponsor message from them at the end of the quizamp160 Or are you finding ways to really take advantage of voice and allow your brand partners to get listeners to engage deeper Moffettamp160amp160On the radio and across platforms NPR sponsor messages have always been conversational and noncommercialamp160 We39ve found that style works best on these voice assistant platformsamp160 Our Smart Audio Report survey shows public radiostyle sponsor announcements are among the most preferred brand messaging formats on smart speakersamp160 Because people are turning to the smart speaker to make their lives easier and more efficient it39s important for brands to consider how they can be conversational useful and informative rather than just purely marketingWhen it comes to voice landing pages length mattersamp160 We39re seeing strong completion ratesamp160 Well over half of the people who start one of these stories will get all the way through itamp160 That39s pretty good engagement for any sponsor or advertiserHamanoamp160amp160I think what39s exciting about NPR and NPM working together is that it39s the user experience firstfold on both content and sponsorshipamp160 I think when publishers do go into this experience and think to tack it on at the end you can tellamp160 It39s not natural and it39s not really optimizing for the whole experienceamp160 So as a product team we work closely with Bryan39s team to make sure that the user needs and trust are met first and foremostRomanoamp160 How do screened smart speaker devices play into your strategy for content and sponsorshipamp160 If I was to play the quotWait Wait Quizquot on a device with a screen would I get a graphical pieceHamanoamp160amp160You doamp160 Moving forward we39re trying to make sure to keep that in mindamp160 So for the Echo Spot as challenging as it is we do have a visual experienceamp160 Same for our visual newscastamp160 We format our visuals so that it still makes sense on that little screen but it also looks great on the show the Fire TV Cube and Google devicesMoffettamp160 Inamp160terms of sponsorship the 15second postroll on screened devices will also have a visual aspectamp160 It39s not a video and I think that39s really important because I don39t think the audience is expecting to see a TV commercial thereamp160 They certainly aren39t looking to see video content per se They39re looking for something that helps augment the audio experience and gives them a visual componentRomanoamp160 Where do you see this space headed in the next year to 24 monthsamp160 What39s in your crystal ballHamano The early adopters of voice assistants brushed off how clunky some of the commands were and how there was a little bit of disconnect in the experienceamp160 Now that these devices are entering into the mainstream it is going to push the platforms and content creators to make the experience more naturalMoffettamp160 The Smart Audio report said that 52 of people use their smart speakers daily and they tend to use the voice assistant on their phones more tooamp160 If I looked down the road a year or two I think the tendency to want voice assistants everywhere to use them to control all aspects of your life is going to accelerate very quickly because once it works well enough you39ll use thatamp160 As you get into the interactive experiences and people want to go deeper for brands to be a part of that they have to be conversational and additiveClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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NPR Steps Up Its Smart Speaker Game for Audiences and Sponsors

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Alli Romano

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NPR Steps Up Its Smart Speaker Game for Audiences and Sponsors

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