When I stepped up to the microphone at The Hoxton Holborn to welcome our guests to Audio Days London 2025, the energy in the room was undeniable. Ninety-plus digital audio leaders, experts, and enthusiasts had gathered, coffees in hand, ready to dig into the future of audio.
To break the ice, I asked a simple question: Who here has listened to audio today? Almost every hand went up, followed by a ripple of knowing laughter.
It was a small moment that captured the bigger story. Audio has moved far beyond background noise. It is woven into daily life, the soundtrack for commutes, workouts, and quiet moments at home. Listeners are already all in. The challenge now is ensuring advertising investment reflects that reality.
Digital Audio Growth Outpaces Ad Spend
In my opening remarks, I shared a snapshot of where the UK audio market stands today. Listener habits are surging, but advertising spend has not kept pace.
- 70% of UK listeners (especially younger audiences) now consume digital audio daily on connected devices.
- Smart speakers are spreading, podcast listening continues to grow, and in-car integrations are making audio more seamless than ever.
- Budgets are still catching up. Although audio accounts for just 5% of total ad spend, according to the Q1 2025 Edison Share of Ear, and digital audio only 1.8%, according to a 2025 eMarketer forecast, the growth potential is enormous. Listener growth is outpacing investment, creating new opportunities for brands.
Panel: Programmatic Audio – The Rise, the Reality, and What’s Next
Our first panel, moderated by Rowan Hamill, Director of Business Development at AdsWizz, explored the shift toward programmatic buying. The panel tackled how automation is reshaping audio and what it really means for agencies, advertisers, and listeners.
Participants:
- Martyn Searles, AV Business Director, Hearts & Science
- Dave Ajumobi, Programmatic Lead, Two Circles
- Nadia Holmes, Head of Business Development, audioXI
- Libby Watling, Senior Account Director, Walk-in Media
The panel left no doubt: programmatic is the future. Agencies are embracing it for its scalability, efficiency, and simplified workflows. Even the skeptics agreed that media buying is moving in one direction.
Programmatic advertising adds flexibility, simplifies reporting, and enables campaigns to run across multiple formats in a single plan. Agencies have been clear in their demand for standardized measurement and streamlined workflows that make buying audio as seamless as display or video.
Fireside Chat: Podcast Targeting Buyers Can Trust
This session focused on podcasting, highlighting how the medium sits at the intersection of culture and commerce and why advertisers must approach it with authenticity.
Participants:
- Thema Archer, Senior Account Executive, EU Marketplace Partnerships at AdsWizz
- Renay Richardson, Founder & CEO, Broccoli Productions
Thema and Renay emphasized the power of independent podcasts to reach tightly knit communities built on trust. These shows give brands access to audiences mainstream channels cannot touch. Authenticity is essential: host-read ads resonate because they carry the creator’s credibility, and when brands integrate naturally into content, conversions follow.
While the UK still trails the US in monetization, programmatic buying is helping close the gap. Podcasts are more than a media channel. They are cultural launchpads, and AdsWizz is helping advertisers scale their investment with confidence.
Panel: Finding Your Brand’s Voice – Reaching Niche Audiences Through Digital Audio Targeting
Next, we turned to targeting. Moderated by Lindsay Lynch, Senior Director of Business Development at AdsWizz, this panel explored how digital audio enables brands to speak to the right audiences in smarter, more efficient ways.
Participants:
- Rachel Holsgrove, Director of Digital Operations, Octave
- Dave Ayre, Managing Partner, Programmatic, Dentsu
- Katriona Connely, Global Media Lead, Publicis Media
- Mike Murray, Head of Programmatic, OMD EMEA
Traditional radio still misses large swathes of listeners. Programmatic fills those gaps with richer data such as device type, IP, and commuting behavior.
Panelists noted that podcast content moves fast, which makes brand safety and suitability top of mind for advertisers. That’s why AdsWizz has built solutions designed to provide the transparency, control, and confidence brands need to invest in audio at scale. This topic gets explored further in the final session, which examines how advertisers can balance brand safety, scale, and authenticity.
Panel: The New Rules of Podcasting
The final session of the day asked what has changed in podcasting and how advertisers should adapt as the medium continues to evolve. Moderated by Guy Taylor, Director of Business Development at AdsWizz, this conversation focused on balancing brand safety, scale, and authenticity.
Participants:
- Tyler Clarke-Richards, Programmatic Account Manager, MG OMD
- Kate Cooper, Activation Director (AV), the7stars
- Pia de Giorgis, Associate Director, Connected Performance, OMD
- Dimana Zaharieva, Programmatic AdTech Solutions Manager, Acast
The panelists stressed the tension between brand safety and creativity. Content evolves fast, so strict controls rarely keep up, while over-targeting can fragment campaigns and stunt reach. The message was clear that podcasts thrive on authenticity. Overly complex classification risks stripping away what makes them effective. Buyers should favor simplicity, accept some unpredictability, and keep scale intact without choking creativity.
Closing the Gap
At AudioDays London 2025, the conversations showed where AdsWizz can make the biggest impact. Listeners are already deeply invested in audio, and advertisers have a clear opportunity to match that engagement. With trusted technologies and strategies, AdsWizz is enabling global brands to turn audience demand into measurable results.
Here are the priorities that emerged:
- Prioritize education by simplifying messaging around programmatic audio, targeting, and measurement so agencies understand the value clearly.
- Lean into curation and step into the driver’s seat. Buyers can now gain the transparency, control, and trust they already leverage in display and video.
- Leverage AI thoughtfully by showing how it creates efficiencies in targeting, identity resolution, and creative personalization while maintaining authenticity.
- Lead in measurement by advocating for standardized, cross-channel metrics that are both credible and easy to compare.
- Adopt a format-agnostic mindset. Audio podcasting remains the foundation, but video and multimedia can amplify reach, depth, and engagement.
These are not distant goals. Programmatic, smarter targeting, AI-driven efficiencies, and podcast monetization are tools AdsWizz is already delivering to help advertisers connect with audiences where they are today.
- Check out the full presentation here.
- Ready to amplify your audio investment? Connect with an AdsWizz audio expert.
by Ollie Chadwick, Regional Director, UK & Ireland
