Acast has introduced a new advertising product, Talent-Voiced Ads, designed to allow brands to have their scripted audio advertisements voiced by Acast talent. This new format is set to be available across Acast's extensive network, which comprises more than 140,000 shows.

The talent-voiced ads offer advertisers the opportunity to leverage the recognisable voices of podcast talents for their advertisements. This initiative has already seen testing in Australia with advertisers such as Telstra, Samsung, HBF, and La Trobe University participating.

Acast's network includes a range of established podcasters, such as Toni and Ryan, Hello Sport's Tom and Eddy, Maggie Dent, Kat and Latisha Clark, Meshel Laurie, and So Dramatic's Megan Pustetto. Unlike traditional host-read sponsorships, Talent-Voiced Ads utilise the podcaster's voice for the brand's advertisement, which is then distributed at scale across Acast's network.

The introduction of talent-voiced ads seeks to provide several benefits, including authenticity, relevance, monetisation opportunities for creators, premium quality, and efficiency. Acast's contextual targeting technology further aims to ensure that advertisements are relevant to the content and audience of each episode.

Managing Director for Acast ANZ, Henrik Isaksson, commented, “Talent-Voiced Ads bring together the best elements of host-read ads – traditionally only available through direct-IO in Australia and New Zealand. Now, brands and agencies can tap into authentic, trusted voices across the Acast marketplace, all while achieving true scale in podcast advertising.

"A major win for the creator economy, this innovation opens up yet another way for podcasters to monetise their shows. Born out of market demand, the project marks a significant step forward for podcasters, agencies and, importantly, listeners too.”