ad: Annual 2024 Now Open For Entries!
*

Why branded podcasts usually fail – Creating a podcast with real-world impact

Published by

One resource the world is not running short of right now is podcasts. Dip into Spotify and you can currently choose between 5.4 million of them. And yet we’re far from ‘Peak Podcast’, with big brands continuing to invest heavily in audio. 

There are many business reasons why podcasting makes sense, supported by statistics on how podcasts amplify brand awareness and purchase intent more than other media. But there are also public service reasons. Podcasts are, after all, a free form of entertainment during a Cost of Living crisis. And Lord knows everyone needs more escapism but less screen-time these days.

So, yes, come and join us in the world of audio. We’re famously friendly over here. But please try not to pollute the giant podcast pool with muddy or ugly-sounding branded podcasts. There are enough of those already.

Relaxation and entertainment are the primary motivations for podcast listeners, so your new series should feel like an inviting warm bath. But how do you create that sensation? How do you avoid becoming unlistenable? There are a lot of helpful points here. Here are four key questions to consider as you develop your show:

Which voices should we use?

The choice of voice to lead your series is a make-or-break call. Nearly all podcast consumption is through headphones, meaning the relationship between presenter and listener is as intimate as can be.

The best hosts become our parasocial besties or versions of the voices in our heads. This means that people are generally more persuadable when listening to podcasts, and brand messaging lodges deeper. But it also means that any phoniness from your host gets amplified and is impossible to ignore.

Exemplary marriages of brand and voice, where there is synchronicity and synergy with a little twist, include Gemma Cairney with Galaxy Chocolate, and Maya Jama with Freya Lingerie. But you don’t have to cast a celebrity, of course. Your new presenter might be someone cheaper and fresher.

They could be under your nose, in-house. It might be the CEO, but it just as easily could be someone far more junior. Try to take ego and company politics out of it and ask yourself who has the charisma, the charm, and the perfect narrative perspective? Will they sustain enthusiasm and engagement over hundreds of episodes? Do they even have a nice voice?

After that, the same thought process should go into your guest booking. Select contributors as much for the winning way that they can communicate, as for their CV and credentials.

What will it feel like to listen to?

Audio can be made with one microphone and a shoestring, it’s true. That accessibility is one of the amazing things about the medium. But that doesn’t mean you should do it on the cheap. The production values of your podcast mirror the values of your brand. 

Avoid recording in echoey conference rooms or on tinny Zoom calls, and aim to tell stories through the transportative power of pristine sound. Partner with professional production companies who ‘get you’, and then give them the room and license to make magic. 

Be ambitious, too, with your concept. Most business-focussed podcasts settle for a standard two-way interview format, but there are so many more possibilities out there. Audio is a playground. For a subtle-yet-satisfying formal innovation, check out Art Fund’s Meet Me at the Museum. Each week a famous person is allowed to roam round a gallery with a mate, lending a fresh spin to the celebrity conversation trope.

Why are we doing this?

Success has many faces. What companies want from a podcast can differ wildly, from selling products to addressing a PR problem to communicating more effectively with their own staff. And it doesn’t all rest on clocking up millions of downloads, as even a small listenership can drive big business results.

So - define what success looks like for you at the start, then streamline your content accordingly. Targeted, focussed, niche podcasts are generally more enjoyable and marketable than broad everyman ones.

But also - be ambitious with your aim and make a difference. Don’t just podcast for the sake of it, podcast with purpose. That’s what we try to do at Peanut & Crumb with Get Birding, which has a mission to improve accessibility to nature for all.

Podcast listeners are uniquely attentive and active, making audio the perfect medium for creating change, in major or minor ways. Podcasts can genuinely change minds. I know that mine is flipped regularly, whether by the political analysis on Novara Media, the revisionist history on Slate’s Slow Burn, or the depth of conversation on The Penguin Podcast.

How sales-y should it be?

Podcasts can be your most sustained connection with customers. It should be a relationship based on reliability and trust. Don’t waste that trust by making the podcast all about what you want to sell. Subjecting your audience to a 30-minute advert is likely to result in a lot of unsubscribers. Instead, overdeliver on what your audience wants to hear. And if you don’t know what that is, you can always ask them.

*

By Jack Howson,  Head of Audio at Peanut & Crumb, the production company set up by BBC broadcaster Katie Derham and BAFTA nominated producer Jane Gerber.

Header image by Terry Saunders

Comments

More Features

*

Features

Global creative calendar: April 2024

Across this month’s full slate of alluring extracurricular activities, everyone open to new experiences has worlds to gain. Current and future leaders spanning all industries are going all in: Curtains will soon draw back and stages will...

Posted by: The Darnell Works Agency
*

Features

Enduring Brands vs. Fading Stars: Standing the Test of Time #Brand Month

Not every brand can be an icon and even those that achieve iconic status are not guaranteed immortality. Of course, changing consumer and economic trends are always going to play an important part in whether a brand sticks around for months, years or...

Posted by: Benjamin Hiorns
ad: Annual 2024 Now Open For Entries!