Coming out of CES, one theme cut through both the main stages and the smaller tables. Audiences are exploring AI, yet they still favor media made by real people. Marketers who put human led content at the center and use AI as a helpful assist can earn trust, grow attention, and convert that attention into outcomes that withstand CFO scrutiny. Whether you run a national portfolio or a regional challenger brand, the same chain applies, and the plays are scalable to budget and team size.

Key Takeaways:

• People use AI tools, yet most say it matters that their media is made by a real human. Treat this preference as a strategic input, not a sentiment.
• Marketers are now trading in trust. Trust unlocks attention, lowers perceived risk, and increases message acceptance, which is how marketing influences behavior.
• Live and personality led audio concentrate trust in the moment. These settings feel intimate and credible, which helps brands borrow equity without over scripting.
• Audio is becoming more addressable and measurable, so you can prove the business effect of trusted environments with the rigor the C suite expects.

The Simple Chain: Human → Trust → Attention → Memory → Action

Most consumers are comfortable using AI, yet even more say they want media created by real people. In iHeart’s Human Consumer work, 70 percent report using AI, while 90 percent want their media made by humans. That preference is not a nostalgia play, it is a trust signal. When people know a real person is behind the content, skepticism softens and attention opens. Once you have attention, the message has a chance to be processed and remembered. And only remembered messages can shape choice and behavior.

This is the point of a Guaranteed Human approach. It preserves the credibility that makes marketing work. Keep humans in front of the audience, then let AI do its best work behind the scenes, where it speeds research, tagging, and testing without diluting authenticity.

Why Live and Personality Led Audio Are Trust Accelerators

Trust increases when people can evaluate the source, hear nuance, and participate in a shared moment. Live formats and host driven shows check those boxes. Radio and live audio are unscripted, in real time, and hosted by voices listeners choose day after day. That repeated choice creates familiarity and accountability, which are two of the fastest ways to build trust. In iHeart environments, listeners often view hosts as friends and place high trust in their recommendations, which gives brands a credible context to be heard.

Sports and creator led extensions turn that trust into community. Fans gather around something they care about, then follow the personalities they already believe. Add light, respectful personalization that feels helpful, and you increase relevance without triggering the skepticism that pure algorithmic content can create.

Proving Outcomes

Trust is necessary, but brands need proof. Audio closes that loop. Advances in privacy safe, ID based planning and enrichment are making broadcast, streaming, and podcast inventory more addressable and measurable in a unified way. The goal is simple, plan and measure audio with the same audience principles that digital teams already trust, then connect exposure to outcomes like store visits, leads, and sales. For larger teams, that often means integrating audio exposure into MMM and MTA so results roll up to the enterprise view. For smaller teams, the proof can be simple and strong, like unique URLs or promo codes, call tracking, foot-traffic lift, or form fills tied to specific flights. That lets you defend investment in trusted environments with the precision and transparency your finance partners expect.

Rethink Mass Reach Without Shrinking Your Total Audience

A strict one to one mindset can unintentionally shrink your audience and miss segments that would have responded if they had a chance to hear from you.

What To Do Now as a Marketer

• Design for trust first. Put human led content in the foreground. Use AI as an invisible assist for speed and insight, not as a synthetic voice in front of the customer. In an environment saturated with artificial content, real human connection is a strategic imperative.
• Concentrate your live moments. Build around sports, events, and host driven audio where attention, participation, and credibility converge. Treat hosts as strategic partners who translate your message, not as read machines.
• Measure Audio & Optimize to the data. Work with your media team to ensure there’s a plan outcome data that can live in your MMM and MTA frameworks, or for simpler plans, in trackable signals like store traffic, call volume, bookings, or redemptions. Audio is measurable and it drives performance, not just impressions.
• Rebalance the funnel. Safeguard upper funnel reach to prevent total audience compression, then use data to shape mid and lower funnel tactics against performance KPIs.
• Build creator bridges. Extend trusted moments with creator content that travels across radio, podcasts, social, and events. Measure the chain from exposure to action for a full 360 degree strategy.