Video Podcasts Proliferate: On Wednesday, the influential podcast How Long Gone, helmed by the bicoastal duo Chris Black and Jason Stewart, announced the rollout of its first video series, titled “How Long Gone Today.” The news comes on the heels of the Monday debut of a new daily video podcast from The Guardian, which will employ a staff of 10 and aims to eat into the listenership of competitors like The Daily. While the two series could not be more different in their scope and frequency, taken together they underscore the growing primacy of video in the podcast space. According to podcast trade firm Sounds Profitable, 71% of current podcasters create either video-only or combined video-and-audio podcasts, whereas only 29% create audio-only podcasts.
LTK Eats Creator Commerce: As the journalist Kyle Chayka observed, influencers are the new retailers. Perhaps no company embodies that thesis more than LTK, the creator commerce platform that enables vetted creators to list product recommendations directly on its app and take a commission. According to LTK founder Amber Venz Box, whom I spoke with while she visited New York for Fashion Week, the company is now pressing its advantage. Since inviting brands to the platform in November, more than 700 have joined; in a twist, they are only allowed to repost content, not produce their own. The company, which is profitable, does “hundreds of millions” in revenue, and doubled its EBITDA last year, plans to release an AI-enabled chatbot to its app in the coming weeks. Sadly, it has no plans to introduce ads anytime soon.
AI Upends Marketing: According to proprietary data compiled for ADWEEK, AI has not yet eliminated jobs in the marketing sector, although it has already begun dramatically reshaping them. In a survey of 501 brand marketers, 67% reported that AI had eliminated either no roles or just 1% to 5% of positions in the past year. But it has changed the nature of their work: Nearly two-thirds of marketers (63%) said that AI has moderately or significantly altered their daily responsibilities, while just 3% said their role hasn’t changed at all. Read the rest of the findings here.
SXSW Soiree: I will be headed to South by Southwest in Austin next month, where I will be moderating panel discussions on streaming, podcasting, and creators. As a former Austin resident and native Texan, I also plan on swimming at Barton Springs and eating breakfast tacos. If you will be in town, please feel free to register for ADWEEK House on Sunday March 15, where I will be hosting some programming. Shoot me an email at mark.stenberg@adweek.com if you want to meet up!
Pulled Quotes
“To be in public is to risk being filmed. And these days, there’s a good chance it’s happening surreptitiously with smart glasses.”
The New York Times’ Luke Fortney, on the intrusion of smart glasses into shared spaces
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