Angie More, Wondery’s head of advertising, said the opportunity of video podcasts has redefined not only podcasts but the way advertisers can reach customers through takeovers and full 360 campaigns.

“You can even do things like product placement. Integrating a product experience—whether or not a host is drinking a soda on camera or you have some signage or buttons that showcase the ability to see the brand recognition or the logo somewhere—there are a lot of different bumpers and things that we can add in as part of YouTube,” More said.

Ketkar noted that Wondery also has the ability to sell dynamic inventory, which differentiates it from other podcast publishers on YouTube.

“All of the traditional dynamic spots and inventory that you see from YouTube—whether it’s six-second bumpers, 30-second skippable ads, or the display companion banners—those are now inventory that we can also offer our clients,” Ketkar said.

Wondery is even starting to do more with upfront commitments, allowing clients to place yearly buys ahead of time, according to More. The offering highlights the demand for the medium.

“Our future is really bright, and there’s so much more we can do, but we’re already starting off in a place where we’re hanging the experience for advertisers, being able to bring that talent and the video experience together,” More said.

What’s next

As the company continues to change its strategy, it is evolving its storytelling, too.

For instance, one of the biggest challenges for the company is how to take narrative audio podcasts and convert them to video in an engaging way. And Wondery is already experimenting with new ways to showcase its content.

Ketkar pointed out how Wondery experimented with the recent launch of Redacted: Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamana. The show is a narrative true crime history podcast that looks at what happened behind closed doors of government offices and military compounds, in partnership with Ballen Studios, and Wondery has given it new visuals to accompany the stories.

“It’s very immersive from an audio standpoint, and we’ve now added these immersive animated visuals to go along with it,” Ketkar said. “We launched the channel at the end of January, and we’re seeing really high engagement results from that—so we’re really excited about the future—not only of the traditional chat shows but with how narratives can adapt.”