Why The Human Voice Will Be Your Brand’s Most Valuable Asset | Matt Anderson

Matt Anderson: [00:00:00] Imagine like the majority of the content on the web within a year's time is gonna be created by ai.

So it's not gonna actually be real

And I think things like podcasts are gonna go up in value with consumers because, it's human beings talking, it's it's actual human interaction. They're authentic, they help you build connections, you get underneath the skin of what makes people tick.

Sadaf Beynon: Welcome to Podjunction Podcast. I'm Sadaf Beynon, and this is the show where business leaders share how they use podcasting to grow, connect, and build their brands. So today's guest is Matt Anderson. Matt, would you like to introduce yourself for me?

Matt Anderson: Yep. Sure. Um, my name's, uh, Matt Anderson. Uh, I've, I've been in the world of digital for about 20 odd years now.

And, and, um, I've, I've grown in scaled agencies, um, montage Communications, and then Marketplace Amp most recently. Um, and that was scaled and, uh, uh, acquired by Optimizon, um, which is my, my last sort of agency [00:01:00] role as a strategy. Chief Strategy officer there. Um, and as a part of that within the business, we, uh, ran a podcast called E-com insights, um, and, um.

Essentially what I'm looking to do is, and now I'm working with Dragonfly AI, pivoted, exited, um, is, um, to, to launch a new podcast called the Tea, which is, uh, connecting e-commerce brand and ai and where, where they meet, um, which I think is a really interesting space, basically. Um, and a part of that. Part of that journey is very much, is sort of get, making, making me focus and build, build connections within, within that space.

But also, you know, I think, um, I. Uh, I, I, as I've found the, the people that you meet, uh, and it helps build collaboration and you, and, and build your own knowledge, really. Mm-hmm. And it's something that I've done throughout, throughout my career, um, from a very early, early space, really is, um, [00:02:00] you, whether it is been podcasting or it was social media events and back in the day, um, yeah, like festival, which I was involved with back, back 2000.

Well, that's when Twitter was a, a cool place to hang out anyway. Yeah. Um, but yeah, so, um, those kind of events have always been really great and building connections, um, and, and meaningful ones rather than, so I think pod podcasting makes, makes a lot of sense to me.

Sadaf Beynon: Mm-hmm.

Matt Anderson: Uh, as, as an know to focus.

Sadaf Beynon: No, that's great.

So Dragonfly ai, um, yes. Is your, is your new brand, your new role that you're gonna be doing? Right.

Matt Anderson: Uh, dragonfly. A AI is a company that I'm board advisory for. Um, it's not my, not my company, but, uh, essentially, but, um, uh, and Dragonfly is a, um, visual analytics, um, platform which allows you to, uh, audit and analyze content within 89.6% accuracy of the human eye.

It's a patented, um, [00:03:00] org organic algorithm,

Sadaf Beynon: right?

Matt Anderson: So it can actually show you which images, creative advertising is, is gonna have the better share of share of attention versus other brands. Mm-hmm. Um, so that can work in the digital space on like Amazon for example. Um, but also, um, packaging on, on the shelf.

So there's an app within the phone you can actually scan physical point of sale or, or, or packaging as well. So that's a really interesting space really. And, and, uh, they're working with some really great brands, um, like Coca-Cola and Racket and Mars Petcare, and so, so it's a very innovative space. Mm. And, um, that's relatively early, early days for me, but it's, it's super interesting.

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah. You sound like you're enjoying it. Yes. Yeah. AI seems to really be changing the landscape for e-commerce businesses, doesn't it?

Matt Anderson: Yes. I mean, I think, um, uh, well, I, I mentioned I'm, I'm, I'm Matt Edmundson's podcast as well, that. Not just on, [00:04:00] uh, within, internally, within organizations, AI is changing the workflow, for example.

Mm-hmm. But also from, um, a consumer angle. Um, you know, we've all got an AI in our pocket on our phone now. Mm-hmm. And whether that's Gemini or chat, GPT, most people tend to use that. And consumers now are actually starting to use AI to research brands. Uh, for example, um, rufuss on Amazon, uh, is, is the, the, uh.

Native one that's being used. So, you know, if, if you're thinking about, okay, I need some bed linein, for example. Okay, well what, what's the, what's the best for, for a hot, hot environment? Uh, which one's got an antiallergic properties, which ones could, can actually find some specialist uses of the product very, very quickly.

And AI will be like, you think of it as like your personal shopping assistant, you know? Yeah. Like, you, like you'd have in these high end stores in, in London and, and New York. But it's in your pocket. Um, so it's a great leveler [00:05:00] for brands. Uh, I think, um, less focus on, on, on the logo as it were, but which, which products out there that's going to fit my needs and, and, and problems best.

Mm-hmm. And, and AI will be actually be able to find that for the consumer very, very quickly.

Sadaf Beynon: Wow. That's quite incredible.

Matt Anderson: Yeah. So I don't think there's anywhere that, for brands to hide really, you know? Yeah. Because, um, yeah, you can see what the effects of bad PR will happen with certain car companies like tester, for example, at the moment, well, you know, every corporate secret, every issue, every um, problem you have on a review will be analyzed very, with very great detail using ai so the consumers will be able to make informed choices faster.

Yeah. So I think that's a great leveler. Versus some of the bigger, the bigger brands. It means that smaller brands can actually use AI themselves to identify opportunities within a market and launch products very quickly. It's something that I'm [00:06:00] trying out with my, my own brand, which I'm in, in the pet space I'm launching in, in Q4 as well.

Sadaf Beynon: Okay.

Matt Anderson: Yeah. Um, fantastic. Yeah. Um, and that, that's just been. Phenomenal. I mean, going back, I'm not old, but I'm not young, uh, is going back into the day thinking, well actually for, for, for re like I would do for like clients and brands to say, okay, well I need to get underneath the skin of the brand. I've gotta really understand all, all the problems that are out there, reviews, uh, what the consumers are saying, what the competitors, all those sort of things, what analysis, et cetera, et cetera.

You know, work that would take. Several days, or if not weeks, for a larger brand, you know, can I can do it in an afternoon. Now with AI is, is actually be able to full market research. I think there's, there's apps like perplexity for example, which is, is fantastic for, for, for market research. So I think, um, that's, and some of the other, some of the big [00:07:00] brands, big organizations as well, they're tied down with, um.

Their IT departments, frankly are locking because a large language models are great, uh, like chat GPT, but you've gotta be very careful about what data you upload into them, because obviously then it's opening the Pandora's box that can be used by anybody. That can be surfaced by the AI as well, so,

Sadaf Beynon: right.

Matt Anderson: A lot of large organizations have, have been being restricted for their use of ai, whereas,

Sadaf Beynon: oh, that's interesting. The

Matt Anderson: sellers and, and e-commerce. You know, the, the, the one man bands are smaller companies can be a bit more agile.

Sadaf Beynon: Mm-hmm.

Matt Anderson: But you've gotta balance this of technical issues as well, I guess.

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah, it's very interesting. Yeah. Um, fascinating. Really. Yeah. Um, so Matt, tell us about this new podcast that you've got, um, coming up. Did you say it was called the Tea? As in the

Matt Anderson: tea? As in tea as in the Gossip? Uh, as a,

Sadaf Beynon: okay. Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay. Well,

Matt Anderson: because clearly I'm English, so we [00:08:00] like drinking tea. Yeah.

But I think, um, yeah, it's my, my love it. My, my daughter always talks about the tea and I think it's just like the gossip about. I, I think like we're doing now is a bit about what's happening behind the scenes and mm-hmm. What, what are people doing? Um, getting the inside track on, on how brands are using ai, uh, in the world of eCommerce, how, how that's affecting, um, the world of agency as well.

Mm-hmm. It's, it's, it's gonna disrupt that as well. Massively.

Sadaf Beynon: Why do you. Why did you wanna add a podcast to the mix?

Matt Anderson: Um, well it's like, say throughout my career, I've already always done lots of like, collaborative events to build, build my network.

Sadaf Beynon: Mm.

Matt Anderson: Um, and I think fundamentally, um, podcasting is great for that. You know, you, you get underneath the skin of what makes people tick. It, it makes you build connections like we have to, to today to be on the podcast [00:09:00] and, um. So that's first and foremost most really. Um, also, I think, you know, clearly, while I am an AI advocate, I think one of the, one of the issues we're gonna get, um, in the world of communication is, um, people are gonna be very skeptical of content.

Now, I think they already are. We, we all know what an AI video looks like. You only have to go through Instagram and a third or fourth scroll. You're probably watch looking at an AI video. At that point, and it's this whole concept of like the dead web. I dunno if you've heard that before. No. But, um, imagine like the majority of the content on the web within a year's time is gonna be created by ai.

So it's not gonna actually be real

Sadaf Beynon: within a year.

Matt Anderson: Within a year, I'd say. Wow. Uh, um, it's been my prediction, um. Already a good, it feels like a good 20. I haven't got the, you know, I haven't got a stats to audit the entire web, but it feels like a good 25% [00:10:00] to 30% of the content I'm seeing at the moment is, is AI is now, it can, it can be a good thing, you know, you can create content really quickly within, um, LinkedIn or Twitter or wherever that, that's, that's a good thing, but.

You still need a human to be able to monitor that content and make sure it's a good quality and it, and it's adding value to those networks, it's adding value to LinkedIn or wherever it may appear. And I think going back to sort of your initial question about why a podcast is like, it's because it's real.

It's human beings talking, it's it's actual human interaction. And I think things like podcasts are gonna go up in value with consumers because, well, we're seeing it already, aren't we? There's hugely popular. But I think that's only gonna increase in the world of AI until AI figures out how to make podcasts.

And then we,

Sadaf Beynon: yeah, I mean, I guess there's already, [00:11:00] um, scope for that if you're, if you do solo podcasts, right? Yes. And if you're doing audio only,

Matt Anderson: yes. Yeah, I guess it audio only. Yeah. It meant we seem like user generated videos and, and yeah. Audio.

Sadaf Beynon: Okay.

Matt Anderson: Um, but I, again, I think humans are gonna be able to spot that as well.

But, um, my, my point is that, yeah, podcasts, it's that they're authentic, they help you build connections, uh, and, and they'll go up in value with the consumer. Um, I, I believe, I dunno what your, what your thoughts are.

Sadaf Beynon: I, I absolutely agree. I think, um, it's also to add to what you're saying, it's also the, the element of the evergreen content as well, so it's, yes, you can keep coming back to it.

I mean, but having said that, maybe in the AI space, it changes a lot faster too.

Matt Anderson: Um, yeah. Po possibly, um, I mean, yeah, for shout out [00:12:00] if people have got any good AI podcasts that they've found. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm always on the lookout for, uh, consuming those, which is great. Mm-hmm. But I think. Yeah, I mean, ultimately PO Podcast that from an evergreen point of view is super important as well because you, you can have issues that people are gonna discussing, researching, or AI will be able to pick it up and analyze it, no doubt.

Um, so I think you can have like a, a, a longer footprint rather than, versus a, a social media post, which is, you know, it's, it's gone very quickly. Um. Over, over time, uh, podcasts or, or sit on Spotify and YouTube. Mm-hmm. And be and, and be very discoverable.

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah. Yeah. I, I agree. I think one of the things I've heard people say is that I.

Podcasts can you have to be really invested in it. And what if you don't have the time to listen to a full podcast, but, um, wanna know what they, what they're saying, like the key elements [00:13:00] of it. And I guess this is where AI is great, isn't it? You take the transcript, you stick it into chat, GBT, and, and say, give me the three, take three key takeaways, or something like that.

Matt Anderson: Yes. Yeah. I, I like, no, Claude. Claude is very good for that, um, for analyzing like YouTube video. I, I know I, you've probably got some cl someone clever than I know. No, no doubt understand how to do it with Spotify, but, Hmm. But yeah, they'll very quickly give you a transcript of, of a YouTube video and then, and then just say, look, gi, gimme the top five takeaways that I need to understand what, what's the most important, uh, yeah.

Sum summary points. And, and it will do that Yeah. Already, um, which is. I, I, I do that a lot and sometimes I make social, social posts as, as well off the, off, off the back of those. Yeah. And LinkedIn.

Sadaf Beynon: They can go on for quite some time sometimes, can't they? Yes, that's true.

Matt Anderson: That's true. Yeah. I think it's, um, I dunno, it's like where a question for you, 'cause obviously I'm, I'm.

Just, you know, fi finalizing my, my [00:14:00] own podcast that, that the tea and, and thinking, well, you know, what, how can we be different and, and, and, um, be entertaining as well. Mm-hmm. Um, I think some of the best podcasts that I, I listen to, I have some very engaging, very engaging presenters, but quite innovative formats rather than.

People just droning on for an hour or so. It can be, it can get quite stale, but yeah. What works for you?

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah, I think, um, I think having a really good balance of education and, and, and entertainment is really good to keep people's, um, attention, as you say, like, you know, really engaging, um, hosts or whoever it is.

And also, or it could just be the content, but also being able to offer some real value to the listeners as well, so. They don't feel like it's wasted time. And it also keeps them coming back for more too, doesn't it?

Matt Anderson: Absolutely. And I think, um, as some, [00:15:00] some like clear, uh, well, I was thinking about, uh, having, having a format around, um, some clear takeaways really for, um, and basically the, the podcast that, that the tea will be very much about, um, areas that.

You know, you wanna, you're either gossiping about or what you really need to know is like that, this is what I've heard this week. Mm-hmm. Uh, can you believe it? Sort of thing. So it's like actually giving the consumer some sort of clear, concise takeaways. Mm-hmm. Uh, okay, what, this is what we're going, this is what we're gonna cover.

This is why you have to listen. And, and then, um, then leading 'em through it rather than some of the podcasts I've, I've done pre, previously when you, you sat with partners and you basically, sometimes it's. Basically a sales pitch and it's just doesn't work. It is quite a dull.

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah. I think, I think listeners can, can sniff that out as well, can't they?

Matt Anderson: Yeah.

Sadaf Beynon: The whole sales pitch and it, I think they, they tune out unless it's very compelling and it's done [00:16:00] once or twice.

Matt Anderson: yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, some, some very good people are, are very good at that. Mm-hmm. Um, so that, that's where, that's the direction I'm, I'm gonna be taking it in really. Um. And, um, I think EEE equally, there's some useful tools like, you know, cap cut and opus clips, for example, that you can actually segment your, yeah.

Your podcast up into some, you know, viral clips as it were. Mm-hmm. Um, and be able to get, get the, the word out there.

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah. So

Matt Anderson: I think that's important too.

Sadaf Beynon: Mm-hmm. Will you have a co-host or are you doing it on your own?

Matt Anderson: Um, I'm, I'm seeking co-hosts, but, um, okay. I, I've, I've been basically pulling in sort of, um, uh, people I know within my, within my network.

People like Andy Walker's. He's very, he is a very funny guy. Um, um, and, um, yeah, just basically just to, just, just to, just to build my network really.

Sadaf Beynon: yeah. Yeah. Um, and like as you were talking [00:17:00] about the social media clips. Yeah, I agree. Those are, those are annoyingly really important. Yes. Because there's just one more thing to do at the end, but Yes.

Um, I mean, if you've got a team to help you out, that's great, but

Matt Anderson: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it'd be nice. But yeah, I, yeah, I did have a team, but now, now I don't, but now I've got, I've got, um, partners that can help with that. Yeah. And just to be able to sort of build it out. Um, and like cadence wise, um, yeah, I guess one, once a week I was wanting to do, uh, a shorter podcast, basically.

Sadaf Beynon: Okay.

Matt Anderson: Uh, and, and then rolling it out. At the end of the week, uh, which I think is, the, the tea, the gossip I heard this week basically from, from from the industry and then discussing that. Right,

Sadaf Beynon: right. So is it a bit like the word on the street?

Matt Anderson: Yes. Basically. Yeah. Yeah. I think, I think 'cause, well part.

I've, I've, I, I've been going in the direction of, of um, AI anyway for the last 18 months, but now [00:18:00] sort of clearly sort of pivoted into, into ai. Yeah. And it's been quite interesting on like LinkedIn. Since then, the amount of people in my network have reached out and going, Hey, that's interesting. What, what's going on there?

Or I'm trying to find out more, or what, what course should we be, be I'd be doing? Because lots of people are looking to sort of upskill Yeah. Through either interest or fear. Mm-hmm. It tends to be that's driving that, um, which is always a good thing to do so bad to yourself. So, um, you know, one of the things that.

I'm looking at is like there's a number of courses out there with like, um, MIT and Imperial College London and um, Cambridge University are doing various sort of short courses. Okay. Paid for. Um, and, um, you know, I'm speaking in my network about that. Is it, which ones are any good? You know, am I gonna waste a load of time and money there?

Yeah. Is it a good thing to do? And what I had struggled in my old role in agency [00:19:00] is that you. You're just too busy really sometimes to, to, to have to, you need some time out just to immerse yourself in a, in a subject area, don't you really? Yeah. And um, and it's always moving so quite fast. Mm-hmm. Um, I think, you know, anyone who says they're an AI expert, I, I'm very skeptical about Yeah.

It's just so much to get your head around.

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah. And it's always changing at the same time, so to keep up with it.

Matt Anderson: Yeah, absolutely. I think that's something. And now I, I mentioned like. Back in sort of two, 2007, I, I, I pivoted into, um, into social, really social media 'cause on the back of like a, a PR and marketing, uh, uh, career.

Um, and that felt like that was moving quite fast. But I mean, you know, this is the next inflection point really, is that AI and it, because AI can essentially create AI as well, that. It's moving so fast that, um, it's, it's quite a, [00:20:00] quite a sea change really. Um, yeah. So I think it's being able to find, you know, an area to specialize in and focus in on in on is important as well.

Yeah, do it all. No, no, no,

Sadaf Beynon: no. Um, so you having this podcast, the tea, it's not your first rodeo 'cause you've been there before with e-Comm Insights. Yeah. So what challenges are you anticipating coming up?

Matt Anderson: Um, time and I guess, uh, it, it's, it does take a lot of time to invest in, in a, in a podcast and promote it and, um, and taking that on.

Um, and, and just keeping the content fresh. I think over time, that's something I struggled with in the past is, okay, once you've exhausted your black book and, uh, pulled in a few favors to get people on, on the podcast is how, how do you keep on, keep that hopper of content full is is another challenge really.

Um, [00:21:00] and then, you know, finding time to promote it, um, post that. So there's, there's the three sort of areas. Yeah. Um, keeping it fresh, keep keeping it. Actually having it stand out versus, versus the crowd is, is, is, is, is key.

Sadaf Beynon: So What are your, um, thoughts and plans for mitigating the risk around these?

Matt Anderson: Um, well, with time ai, uh, it's like research and be able to pull out, um, people, um, you, you can actually do outreach with using ai.

That's one, one thing I want to do. Um. I think is picking, hence us picking quite an, an innovative, interesting area to focus in on because, you know, likes and Matt Edmundson do a great job at, at, for podcasts in the world of eCommerce, it's quite saturated. So it's finding that niche and having standing out and I think that should hopefully make people interested in getting [00:22:00] involved.

Um. So that's one. Um, and, um, two is be able to sort of promote it after that. And I think hopefully I'm gonna get my son involved in that. Um, and, and, and, um, he's at university so he can help

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah. Give him all the social media.

Matt Anderson: He's better, he's better at ca cap cut and things like that. Is I, yes, I can, I can, I can riff it, but, you know.

Yeah. When you've grown up on TikTok, you know, it's, it's, it seems to be like a, um. Second nature to, to a younger audience.

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. Matt, what about from your, from e-Comm Insights, looking back at e-Comm Insights and then you're in this space, you're where you're about to start a new podcast. What was a key lesson that you learned that you can bring forward into, into this new podcast?

Matt Anderson: Um, I think basically is to invest, um, time in, in, in, in the content to make it actionable and have.

Clear [00:23:00] takeaways for the listener to, to, to, you know, un understand very quickly and come out ending a podcast going, what, what is the value? Um, am I getting here? You know, time is money and particularly when you're in world of B2B, uh, you know, there's some very wealthy and stroke very busy people. You know, why should, why should I spend 30 minutes or, or more listening to this?

So, being really clear on it. Um. In advance. I think that in the past sometimes we, we, we'd just cobbled together podcasts with partners and like, it's very salesy, like I mentioned before, so it's like, I, I don't think that worked. Mm-hmm. Whereas you can take time out to build some value beforehand and make sure that the, the listener has, or the consumer has very clear, actionable insights and un understands the value they're getting from a podcast Is important.

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah. Cool. Um, so with those key takeaways, do you list them in the description and the show notes? Is that, is that how you [00:24:00] do it so that people have access to that before they start listening in?

Matt Anderson: Yeah, yeah, basically. Um, and I think sort of what I plan to do is, is build up in advance to start building some of the.

Building some of the heights and the t some of the, some of the go gossip around, around these subjects beforehand. Yeah. On, on social media and see if we can actually drive, drive some engagement that way. Mm-hmm. So people start discussing or debating on LinkedIn or whatever it may be, a subject area.

Okay. Well let's, let's. We, we'll bottom this out in the podcast and then Yeah. You're pulling in in, in listeners in advance.

Sadaf Beynon: Yeah, and I guess you could even reach out to those people on LinkedIn and ask them to be a guest on the show if they've got yes ideas about, you know, or strong opinions about what's going on.

Matt Anderson: Absolutely. Yeah. Um, so that, that, that, that's great. And, uh, yeah, so that's broadly my plans, really. I love

Sadaf Beynon: it. I love it. Matt, I really enjoyed this about [00:25:00] talking about how you're gonna be using your podcast to align with your business and, um, to see what's happening out there. The word on the street or the t, um, that it sounds really fun.

Matt Anderson: Okay. That's great. Well, tha thanks for your time. Really appreciate it.

Sadaf Beynon: Oh, you're welcome. Before we go though, where can people connect with you? Learn more about Dragonfly AI and of course, tune into the new podcast Come April I.

Matt Anderson: Yeah, ,

so, um, dragonflyai, dragonflyai.co is the, the company. Um, and, uh, do, do check them out, visual analytics.

Um, so you can scan 89% of accuracy of the human eye, of any, any content. So, mm-hmm. There's, there's really some video on the website. Do check that out and you can find me on LinkedIn, Matt Anderson, um, as well. Uh, or Matt, [email protected]. Perfect.

Sadaf Beynon: And for everyone listening, I'll drop all the links in in the description so you can check them out.

Um, Matt, thanks again for sharing. Really appreciate your [00:26:00] time.

Matt Anderson: No problem. So thank you. Thanks for having me.

Sadaf Beynon: And To everyone listening, if today's conversation has got you thinking about how podcasting could help you grow your business, I would love to talk.

So for Matt and for me, thanks for listening and I'll see you next time.