🤔 Pre-Roll Thoughts
Lo-fi at midnight. Devotional at dawn. Cricket commentary all evening.
We live our lives in playlists, and yet audio has remained the most ignored format in the Indian media mix outside of the Radio (and if we are being real, we were happy about it!)
For most media plans, audio ads were still an afterthought. What changed? Which AdTech Podcast turned on the light? 👀
🔄 Spotify flipped the switch!
They launched their Ad Exchange (SAX) in India. A proper, programmatic entry point for buying audio inventory in real time.
No more waiting for Spotify reps to email you an IO.
Now, agencies and DSPs can (in theory) plug into Spotify's audience and target:
Specific genres
Listening moments
Devices, cities, mood states
Now, the rest of the industry (agencies, planners, DSPs, media buyers) needs to figure out if they’re actually ready to play.
🌍 Sneak peek at how the world does it.
Audio ads globally? Mature. Measurable. Multi-format.
$6Bn+ in global revenue (2024)
CPMs range from $8–$50+, depending on targeting + format
Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, and Acast dominate the pipes
You’ve got:
Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) for real-time podcast monetization
Programmatic streams via DV360, The Trade Desk
Smart speaker ads with voice interaction (on Alexa, Echo)
And yes, even shoppable audio via companion banners
Marketers in the US call audio the “last untapped reach” format.
🎮 In-App Audio ads are already in momentum
You’ve probably heard of AudioMob, Gadsme, or Targetspot. They’re doing something that feels more native:
🎧 Audio ads that play in the background
🖼️ Small banners that sit unobtrusively on screen
📲 Users keep playing the game / using the app
No skip. No pause. No friction.
These formats are already running in casual gaming, entertainment, and utility apps and can be bought programmatically via certain DSPs or direct SDKs.
The idea is simple:
Audio carries the brand.
Banner drives the click.
User stays in session.
Sounds perfect for India’s multitasking, low-ARPU, mobile-first audience, right?
🔍 Like where this is going? For more such posts - short, sharp and no jargon 👇
🇮🇳 So, where does India stand?
Spotify: Over 83 million MAUs in India
JioSaavn: Over 100 million
Wynk: ~75 million before it shut down
Gaana: Down to ~1.4 million paid users
YouTube: Still India’s unofficial audio platform where no playlist, no prayer, no party without it.
India’s total audio advertising market is projected to reach US$1.13 billion in 2025, with digital audio advertising accounting for approximately US$450.55 million of that total (barely 2–4% of digital spends).
💡 Why hasn’t it taken off, as expected?
Because everything around it still feels… clunky.
Most deals are still direct (duh, obviously!)
Measurement is weak (no measurement, no budget reactivation)
Creative is copy-paste radio (are we in the 90s?)
Agencies treat it like filler (can we really blame them?)
Even Spotify, the most advanced audio ad platform, has been stuck pushing Ad Studio or managed IOs.
Until now.
🔁 Will Spotify Change The Game?
Here’s what’s new:
You can now access Spotify’s inventory via DSPs (The Trade Desk, DV360, etc.)
Real-time bidding. Audience-level targeting.
Possibly creative rotation, frequency control, and custom delivery logic.
But here’s the real question:
Will this be truly programmatic or just “programmatic-looking”?
Because if it’s still just pre-bundled packages, with audience names like “Chill Vibes Tier 2”, then we’re back to square one.
The real test?
Transparent access
Inventory-level control
Flexible formats
DSP-native optimization
An internal Spotify analysis of over 350 campaigns run via Google DV360 found that using SAX led to an average incremental reach of 11.5% without increasing media spend, while also reducing ad repetition and user fatigue
Let’s say regional audio targeting becomes DSP-accessible: Imagine being able to run a Kannada podcast pre-roll in Bangalore and a Bhojpuri music ad in Patna from the same dashboard. That’s the scale we’ve never had before.
🤔 Is it just a platform issue or will Agencies need a Revamp too?
The problem lives on the media floor, too.
No playbooks:
Planners know TV, YouTube, and Meta. But with audio, the questions never end - Where does it fit? What’s the CTR on a Tamil pre-roll?Creative fatigue:
Great audio needs scripting, voice, identity. Most agencies just recycle old radio spots and then wonder why it didn’t work.Measurement gaps:
No lift. No pixels. No benchmarks.
If you can’t prove it, you can’t plan for it.No pressure from clients:
Audio still sits in the “optional” slide. And optional = ignored.
Spotify’s exchange changes the infra.
Whether agencies change their mindset… that’s still TBD.
🧠 So… is this finally India’s audio ad moment?
India listens. Loudly. Constantly. Across geographies, languages, and platforms.
What we’ve lacked is intentional planning, the right pipes, and enough brand belief.
Now, the pipes are starting to show up.
And a few brands are already proving what’s possible.
📚 Zomato’s Metro Hijack
In Mumbai, Zomato hijacked the public announcement system in the metro with lines like:
“Next station: Chaatkopar… no no, Ghatkopar.”
A clever, culturally-rooted campaign that turned daily commutes into snack cravings, and proved that audio can do hyperlocal storytelling better than most formats.
🕶️ Fastrack Gets Local, Loud, and Measurable
With PayTunes, Fastrack launched audio ads tailored to 33 Indian cities — mixing regional language, music, and youth tone.
55% ad recall.
+13 points in purchase consideration.
+12 points in brand perception.
🎙️ Kuku FM Goes Vernacular, Programmatic
With InMobi and Glance, Kuku FM ran programmatic audio ads tailored to regional audiences.
They didn’t just drive reach, they drove installs, engagement, and repeat usage by meeting listeners where they were, in the language they preferred.
🧭 Who else should be investing in audio?
This isn’t a channel for everyone, but it’s a no-brainer for these categories:
🍔 QSR & Food Delivery
Zomato’s already raised the bar. Swiggy, McDonald’s, Dominos - you’re up.
🎧 Audio-Native Brands
boAt’s set the tone. Noise, JBL, Sony - time to follow sound with sound.
🏥 Health & Wellness
Practo, Tata 1mg, Ultrahuman - use audio to build habit, not just awareness.
Speak in the language of the user, quite literally.
🎙️ EdTech & Audio Learning
BYJU’S, Vedantu, Unacademy - your audience already multitasks.
Audio just makes your message frictionless.
🥤 Regional FMCG
Parle, Dabur, Baidyanath - your audience is on devotional playlists and regional radio-style streams.
🎯 Post-Roll Thoughts:
India doesn’t need to love audio ads.
Probably, nobody loves audio ads for their interruption at the moment.
But acting like they don’t exist? That’s over.
They’re here.
They’re scaling.
And for once, they’re measurable.
You can keep skipping the ads on Spotify.
Just don’t skip them in your media plan.
🧠 PS: If Some of This Felt Advanced…
That’s okay — we’ll break it down piece by piece in future explainers under #SimplifyingAdTech (to be launched soon!).
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