The power of podcasting
“Media becomes like fast food - people will consume it on the go… as they travel to and from work, on mobiles or wireless handhelds devices.” Rupert Murdoch, March 2006
At the end of last year, the New Oxford American Dictionary declared “podcast” the Word of the Year. Defined as a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, podcasts are made available on the Internet for downloading to a computer or personal audio player.
So whilst the podcast has been added to our common lexicon, many marketers haven’t quite grasped the nature of podcasting let alone have considered how to use one strategically in their marketing campaigns.
Popularity has grown fast
In this user generated content universe that we all live in, anyone with a microphone, computer, software and an Internet connection, can produce one. Also, in keeping with on-demand content trends, they provide a really easy way of accessing digital content - you can carry and store programmes, subscribe to them, and play them to your friends when and where it suits. Podcasting is an increasingly important way to reach audiences, which are becoming more and more fragmented.
Research company eMarketer predicts that podcast-ad spending will hit US$80 million this year and US$300 million by 2010. While just a drop in the ocean compared with traditional radio advertising spend of approximately US$20 billion, it’s still significant when you consider that this advertising medium only came into being last year.”
Of course, when podcasts first appeared they had an edgy underground appeal, complete with that home-made feel and a cacophony of ummmmms and errrrrrrrs and duhhhhhhs punctuating long silences, unapologetically not edited out.
Now whilst I acknowledge there are still a lot of incoherent ramblings out there – times have really changed. These days many of the world’s top corporations and in particular media organisations are engaging in and producing quality podcasts with stimulating content featuring ground-breaking interviews with politicians, megastars, media personalities and the like.
The BBC started its podcast trial in May last year making twenty programs available to download. The trial is being expanded and extended this year after almost two million BBC radio podcasts were downloaded during December alone.
BusinessWeek.com has a number of weekly podcasts which enhance its most popular content and includes interviews and conversations with writers and editors on the forthcoming week’s cover story.
Locally of course, the ABC runs a wide variety of podcasts across many of its radio networks on everything from science, to sport to religion to current affairs and news.
For organisations keen to reach consumers using this technology, they will need to entice their audience first to listen and then keep coming back for more. And this means creating and repurposing highly polished content that goes way beyond any other content produced for other mediums to suit the needs of a contemporary audience.
For instance, earlier this year, Toyota’s luxury brand, Lexus, experimented with podcasts as part of its African American-targeted campaign for its new IS sport sedan. The campaign drove users to a microsite called LexusFusion.com where they could subscribe to podcasts featuring hip-hop/jazz fusion interspersed with messages about the Lexus IS sport sedan. The campaign essentially gave consumers lifestyle content whilst helping position the car seamlessly within the context of their own lifestyles.
Meanwhile Honda over in the UK has just started podcasting a 15 minute extension of its customer magazine Dream which goes out to 210,000 of its customers. The podcast features lifestyle oriented content that is delivered in three-minute audio grabs.
Of course the podcast has endless possibilities. From an ideal platform for politicians to speak to their constituency on a weekly basis, a way of promoting glossy magazines with star columnists/editors spruking the next issue, and a natural way to build hype and buzz around a film, music, product launch – you name it.
Forrester down plays growth
Even though podcasting’s emergence as a marketing platform has been breathtaking, Forrester reported just last month that the growth of podcasting has so far fallen short of its great expectations, with only one percent of connected North Americans using them on a regular basis and about 73 percent of people say they’ve never heard of podcasting and don’t care to learn more about it.
That said, Forrester estimates that by 2010 around 12.3 million households will be using podcasts.
The survey also found that 23 percent said they’d either like to learn more about the medium or have already heard lots about it and would like to begin listening in the next few months.
Of those who have tried podcasting, time-shifting audio content appeals most with 39 percent saying they want to hear Internet radio content. Whilst only eight percent said they’d like to hear audio content produced by bloggers (they must have tuned into some of those incoherent ramblings I alluded to earlier).
Young, male and wealthy
Interestingly though for marketers (and female singles I am sure) The Forrester survey found that podcast listeners and would-be listeners are predominantly young, male and wealthy.
However, whilst Forrester is playing down the numbers, fans of Ricky Gervais – he of The Office fame – have been downloading his podcasts at unprecedented rates. In one of the first podcasts of its type, The Ricky Gervais Show – made its debut on the UK’s Guardian Unlimited site in December last year. During its first month, the free podcast was averaging 261,670 downloads a week.
Quality content rates
This surely goes to show that quality content will rate and draw sizeable audiences and with it huge marketing opportunities. But such was the immense success of the show that it is not longer available free of charge and can now be purchased via ITunes.
While we’re on the subject of The Office, I’m sure you might have noticed the evolution of iPod culture in your office space, particularly in open plan environments.
I see podcasting as being hugely useful for businesses, particularly those like HotHouse, that publish their own e-newsletter.
We all know about email filter traps and that RSS plays a vital role in overcoming delivery problems.
Add dynamism to e-newsletters
But RSS and podcasting offers an exciting way to add a little zip and sparkle.
By providing your e-newsletter subscribers with a podcast that complements the material of your e-newsletter – for instance an interview with a couple of well credentialed experts - discussing the topic of choice - you’re giving your audience a new slice of content and something that they may choose to listen to not just at the office, but again on their journey to and from work.
Of course getting the quality content right is the hard part, producing the podcast is disarmingly straightforward.
All you need is MP3 recording software and a microphone (and a little quiet please). For your listeners, PCs can play MP3 files you just need speakers or a headphone and of course, you can also download to your iPod.
Employee communication
But of course, a huge area that as far as I can see is relatively uncharted is using podcasts in the area of employee communication. For instance you could organise for your CEO to record weekly messages to staff on things like company performance, or motivational pep talks, acknowledge and recognise staff contributions etc. Allowing employees to keep in touch and get involved with company initiatives, sales updates, etc, when and where it makes sense to them.
In our forthcoming follow-up feature on podcasting we’ll be producing a podcast on how to use this exciting technology.
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