A Q&A with Graham James, Regional Director APAC
Australia’s digital audio scene is booming—over 15 million people are tuning in weekly, and nearly half of households now have a smart speaker, according to Edison Research’s The Infinite Dial 2025 Australia. We sat down with Graham James, Regional Director APAC at AdsWizz, to chat about what’s driving that growth and how brands can stop thinking of audio as just “radio with ads.”
Let’s start with your role. What does your job as Regional Director at AdsWizz involve?
My main focus is making sure advertisers and publishers across the region can tap into the full potential of our tech. That means helping publishers grow revenue, working with advertisers to craft smart campaigns, accessing the right publisher inventory type, and making sure we’re always moving forward on innovation.
Australia’s digital audio space, in particular, is growing incredibly fast—sometimes faster than what we see in the US in certain areas. My background is in content and solution engineering, so I’m always thinking about how to bridge the gap between what our tech can do and what our clients actually need in-market.
The latest Infinite Dial 2025 Australia report shows audio consumption is booming. What’s fueling that growth?
It comes down to how easy it’s become to listen. Smart speakers, voice assistants, they’ve made audio feel more natural. You don’t have to scroll or search. You just say what you want, and it plays.
But more than that, audio fits into parts of the day where other media can’t go. No one’s watching TikTok while jogging or cooking (well, they shouldn’t be). But they are listening. And now that most Australians have two or more connected audio devices, it’s just always there, becoming a part of the rhythm of daily life.
What challenges are advertisers facing as they enter audio, and how is AdsWizz helping them?
One of the biggest things we hear is: “How do I prove this worked?” Audio used to be seen as a brand-only play. You’d run a campaign and hope it made an impact, but tying it back to actual results was tricky.
That’s changed. With tools like AudioMatic and AudioServe, we’re giving our partners real transparency: Who heard the ad, where, and what they did next. And that feedback loop means we can keep improving performance mid-flight, not just afterward.
Creative is another area where brands sometimes get stuck. That’s where Dynamic Creatives come in. We can change music, voices, even the ad message, depending on things like time of day or whether it’s sunny outside. So instead of one generic ad, you’re running hundreds of context-aware versions, and it doesn’t require extra work from your team.
Podcasting is exploding. What’s driving brands to invest there?
People have really personal relationships with the shows they listen to. It’s not just background noise; listeners trust the host, and they spend hours with them every week. So when that host talks about a product, it doesn’t feel like an ad. It feels like a recommendation from a friend.
That’s powerful. And with dynamic ad insertion (DAI), we’ve been able to bring in real targeting and measurement without losing that personal feel. We can now update creative mid-campaign, reach specific demographics, and optimize based on performance.
And honestly, it’s more accessible than people think. You don’t have to buy ads on the biggest shows to see results. There are thousands of mid-sized or niche podcasts with highly engaged listeners. Through the AdsWizz Audio Marketplace, we make it easy to scale up brand growth.
With smart speakers and in-car systems growing, how is “context” changing how campaigns are built?
Context has become a big deal, and it’s not just about where someone is, but how they’re listening.
We can tell if someone’s using a speaker in their kitchen or car, and that shapes what kind of message makes sense. You don’t want to blast a loud ad on the “nursery” speaker or ask a driver to visit your website. But you might follow up with a display ad later when they’re on their phone.
Voice interaction changes the game, too. Instead of asking someone to click, you might say, “Just ask your device for more info.” That’s way more natural if they’re elbow-deep in pasta sauce or doing a workout.
What’s cool is that all of this can be done without invading privacy. We rely on first-party, privacy-safe data to keep things targeted but respectful, which, especially in APAC, is becoming non-negotiable.
What digital audio trends are you watching for the year ahead?
For starters, personalization is only going to get sharper. AI is making it faster and easier to serve someone the exact right message in the right moment.
We’re also seeing more brands thinking cross-device. Your customer might hear your ad on a smart speaker, get retargeted on mobile, and convert later on desktop. Tools like AudioPixel and Second Screen help us track that journey, so we can see what actually led to the sale.
And maybe this is more of a wish than a trend, but advertisers are over-juggling six platforms just to run one campaign. They want a single system that can handle planning, buying, optimizing, and reporting without having to stitch it all together. That’s where the industry is headed, and we’re building for that.
Do you have any final insights about audio you’d like to share with the audience?
If you’re still treating audio like it’s just background radio, you’re missing the real opportunity. It’s targeted. It’s measurable. It’s dynamic. And it’s where people are actually spending their time—without a screen in front of them.
This space is not just growing, it’s evolving. If you’re ready to create campaigns that not only reach people but truly resonate, we’d love to help. Explore our latest tools or connect with our APAC team for a chat.
