Audio.
When audio platforms fight for US brand budget, the bottleneck isn't reach — it's the buyer narrative.
- Big US TAM, single-digit share-of-voice.
- Holdco MSA on the wish list, no path.
- Attention proof not landing with agencies.
When audio platforms fight for share of US brand budget, the bottleneck isn't reach — it's the buyer narrative. I've built that narrative for an in-game audio category leader, a global audio-data platform, and one of the first programmatic DSPs in APAC. The work is translating technical wins (attention, intent signals, non-intrusiveness, consent-first) into language brand committees evaluate — and turning that into a holdco MSA pursuit.
Representative engagement pattern from an in-game audio category leader (12-month operator engagement archetype). Client names, decision-makers, and revenue targets are masked; operating logic and public career anchors are retained.
If any of these sound like your meeting last week.
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We have huge TAM in the US but our share-of-voice is 20% — should be 80%.
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Agencies don't believe our low-retention-impact claim. We have proof — but the story isn't landing.
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We need a Dentsu / OMG / Publicis MSA but no entry point.
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Our attention economics don't translate to agency podcast or audio buyers.
- You're Pre-Series A / Pre-PMF — no enterprise traction or buyer urgency.
- You want a media-mix line item without sharpening the buyer narrative.
- You need a vendor-comparison spreadsheet, not a designed go-to-market motion.
- You're not willing to narrow ICP or kill segments that look promising but don't close.
- There is no internal owner to carry the work after the engagement ends.
Three operator anchors.
- 01
Brand-side narrative architecture
Translated technical audio wins into language brand committees evaluate. Author of the EARO framework (Exposure → Attention → Relevance → Outcome) and the *Relevance Realization* essay — applied cognitive science to media economics.
- 02
6-holdco C-level + Dentsu MSA experience
Signed a global Dentsu + Amplifi master agreement while at Verve Group. C-level relationships across Omnicom, Publicis, GroupM, Stagwell, Dentsu, and Havas spanning 15+ years.
- 03
Operator cadence: 3-6-12 month construct
Internal (A-player upgrade + M-Sales construct) → External (holdco re-intro + verticalized case studies) → Innovation (Contextual In-Game Audio, SSAI, Branded Audio). Revenue ladder modeled and tracked at IC level — book of business 274% on-target in LATAM in Q1 24.
Signal → Spend.
Technical proof on the left (waveform, attention, intent) translated through the operator vocabulary that brand committees actually evaluate (consent-first, retention-safe) into the budget commitment ladder on the right.
What ships, shaped like this.
US Americas GTM for an in-game audio category leader
12-month phased operating plan: A-player team upgrade, M-Sales construct deployment, holdco MSA pursuit, innovation pipeline showcase, and revenue ladder tied to named-account pursuit at the CMO / VP / Director level.
- A-player hiring formula + onboarding certification (Brilliant Basics)
- M-Sales construct — Sales + Marketing tied to revenue quota
- Holdco profile decks (Dentsu / Amplifi / Carat / iProspect / dentsu X)
- Decision-maker mapping for each holdco
- Verticalized case studies (QSR, Auto, Streaming, Pharma, Telco)
- Innovation pipeline (Contextual In-Game Audio, SSAI, Branded Audio)
- CRM + dashboard + BI deployment with weekly cadence
- Industry event roadmap across Cannes, Possible, CES, and RampUp
Sample structure only — no client data. Final artifact is shaped to the engagement, the data available, and the decisions the read needs to drive.
3-6-12 month operator ladder
- 013 months · Foundation
Internal readiness + initial external pipeline.
- Sales team capability audit + gap closure
- CRM / BI / forecasting standardization
- Tier-1 agency outreach using existing network
- Market SWOT vs. AdsWizz, DAX, InMobi, iHeartMedia, Voxnest, A Million Ads, Veritone One
- First holdco profile deck (Dentsu deep-dive as exemplar)
Milestone Q3 IC pipeline ~$200–$300K based on $100K deal-size × 2 - 026 months · Sales scale + proof
A-player expansion, M-Sales construct, vertical case-study deployment.
- Additional A-player hires across priority US regions
- M-Sales construct: Sales + Marketing tied to quota with quantified goals
- 5+ major brand / agency relationships locked
- Verticalized case studies (Entertainment, FMCG / CPG)
- Industry event presence (CES, MWC, P I/O, Digiday, RampUp)
Milestone H2 revenue $500K–$1M; Land-and-Expand strategy fully deployed - 0312 months · Category leadership
National scale + thought leadership + innovation showcase.
- National A-player team (West, East, Central) with BHAG model
- Fully automated M-Sales construct
- Strategic alliances with gaming publishers
- Vertical expansion (Auto, Retail, CPG)
- Awards + brand-presence splash across Cannes, Possible, CES, and RampUp
Milestone Y2 revenue ladder to $5M; 10+ high-value clients (whales); default in-game audio partner of choice
Who you're benchmarking against.
- AdsWizz
- DAX
- InMobi
- iHeartMedia
- Voxnest
- A Million Ads
- Veritone One
Engagement work includes a SWOT vs. peer set, positioning roadmap, and competitive-takeover plays where the wedge is clear.
Operator vocabulary, defined.
- M-Sales
- Sales and Marketing operating as a single quota-linked growth function — Marketing pulled into revenue accountability, not treated as demand-gen support.
- BHAG model
- Big Hairy Audacious Goal — a 24-36 month stretch revenue ambition that frames territory design, hiring quotas, and partner sequencing.
- Whale model
- Multi-million-dollar named-account pursuit with multi-year contract logic — concentrated effort on a small list of strategic brand committees.
Same vertical. Different operating layer.
When the vertical is clear, the next question is which company system carries the strategy.
- Org Design Org design is GTM infrastructure. This playbook helps scale-ups move from heroic execution to clear ownership, decision rights, capacity planning, and repeatable operating cadence.
- Retention Post-sale operating system for retention, expansion, renewal confidence, churn prevention, and Net Dollar Retention (NDR). It turns reactive renewal management into a designed expansion motion — customer health, expansion triggers, and a board-grade NDR number.
- Travel Travel tech operator + travel data insider — for vendors unifying portfolios or modernizing the data graph.
- Gaming Game advertising is now a scaled media channel — not a niche buy. Translating that into Americas GTM.
- Native Native + recommendation platforms grow fast — the US enterprise bottleneck is rep productivity and ACV expansion.
- Attention Attention measurement is a category that has to be created — not just sold.
- App Growth App-first DSPs and mobile growth platforms turning existing US demand into a focused, lean commercial engine — not a cold market entry.
- Growth Operating model for aligning marketing, sales, data, and customer feedback into one revenue system for scale-up growth.
Market references last validated: June 7, 2026. Revalidate before pitch use.
Trying to turn audio proof into brand budget?
Every engagement starts with a 30-minute fit call. Tell me what you're working on; if it's the right kind of problem, we'll scope it. If it isn't, you'll leave with a sharper read on the market.