Audio earns a quarter of our listening and a sliver of the spend. Close the gap with data and dynamic creative. But keep the human touch.

Like most people, Pedrick did not realise the media and advertising industry was what it is when he was at university. He studied marketing, and with a father in sales he decided to try selling marketing. His first role was selling email marketing, a boiler room job of 70 calls and 10 proposals a day. After a couple of years and a video network, his first big break came at ESPN, part of the Walt Disney Company, hired as a TV and digital salesperson when they held Premier League rights. When those went to BT the business turned digital first. Five years at Disney led to The Sun as a group head, 10 years ago this November, up to head of digital, then the broadcasting side as director of digital, and Managing Director of Octave once News UK acquired it, officially last April.

The last five or six years have brought a huge amount of change. The rise of programmatic keeps evolving, first in publishing and now in audio, and measurement and automation will only accelerate. Since Pedrick joined News UK the whole company thinks and operates differently: print and digital teams that once sat apart now work as one, from the newsroom to commercial operations to technology, and the whole company is harnessing AI. It is hard to keep up, and in three or four years it will look different again, which is what makes it exciting.

Octave is predominantly radio stations, but they are not radio stations anymore: a 24/7 talkSPORT feed on connected TV, all stations visualised, more people reached on social than through listening. The numbers make the case. By Pedrick's account audio takes about 24% of an adult's daily consumption but only 2 to 3% of ad spend, 78% of the population consumes digital audio weekly for about 2.5% of digital spend, and 51% listen to a podcast weekly for around 1%. That disparity is where the opportunity sits.

There is a lack of understanding of the role audio plays on a plan: whether it is only direct response, whether it builds brand, and how it works with other media. Planning is catching up, and closing the gap is an education job for agencies and buyers rather than a failing of the medium.

It is becoming harder to define what a podcast even is anymore, with Apple's updates, Spotify going video first and Acast moving in. Those mediums will keep colliding. But quality matters: an Ofcom regulated station, invested in daily, is not the same as an unregulated social channel that could be AI generated, and purely AI generated podcasts are already appearing. Together, radio, podcast, gaming and social create more opportunities for advertisers, which can only be good for the industry.

When Octave was acquired, Pedrick wanted partners to complement and diversify the inventory stack. Gaming is exciting, and misunderstood. Working with AudioMob, who reach six million in the UK, he found the audience is not a teenage boy on Call of Duty but older, more upmarket and female skewed, complementing the broadcast set and offering different creative and messaging.

Four years ago vendors promised high quality audio ads in seconds and it was not ready: demos failed and the ads sounded tinny. In partnership with Audio Stack that has changed. The tool solves late briefs, missing studio time and endless amends, producing a fully approved, regulated ad in minutes.

Octave ran a Sky Formula One campaign where the ads changed with the race weekend, and launch partner Marks & Spencer promoted a new Bristol store with versions targeted to that area on a small budget. The system can spin out over a thousand copies in minutes, tied to weather, location, interests and behaviour, though the final 10 to 15% of human touch still makes it feel natural, and it opens high quality audio to smaller businesses.

It is not about how much data brands need, it is about aligning the right data to the brief. Octave uses the full breadth of News UK's first-party data, but does not overwhelm brands with data points. It carries over 90 segments yet routinely sells 25 to 30, because brands still want the simplicity and trust of knowing what they are buying.

As big companies run away with AI across display, audio and full TV creative, Pedrick insists on maintaining the human connection. The judgment will eventually sit with the consumer and the advertiser. Octave held back from launching its AI product a few years ago because it did not sound right, and only moved when it did.

The market is growing, so fragmentation helps: more players means more people in front of agencies talking about audio. Octave was itself part of that, holding Bauer and News UK inventory before taking on and growing the business. The market must not get too fragmented, and what Pedrick wants most is collaboration where it benefits the whole market.

Partnerships are happening across the spectrum, like podcasts moving onto connected TV, and it is not only about commercial deals but how audiences consume media. As a consumer juggling Disney, Netflix, Paramount and Sky, Pedrick knows how hard it is to keep up, so you have to think about the consumer first.

Editorial integrity has been ingrained since Pedrick joined The Sun. A brand might push a talkSPORT presenter to say something off-brand, and the branded content team has to strike that balance. Octave is protective of its brands, IP, data and consumers, because it all funds journalism, which matters more than ever. As more companies want the first-party data, the presenters and the journalists, that line must be clear with advertisers from the outset.

COVID changed how people work and how you lead, and Pedrick values the flexibility. But with AI, technology and how media is planned and bought all moving fast, the key word is adaptability. Octave will look very different in three or four years, so he has to make sure he and his team are ready.

Be curious always, because media is fast-changing and full of opportunity, and never lose sight of work ethic. Put your head down and work hard and it will be rewarded, more so now with AI and automation. Be smart, but if you work hard and stay curious you can have an amazing career. On brands, Pedrick admires Guinness and Paddy Power for building real personality.