Thoughts on podcasting and how it relates to our world

Ed. Note: We started this company with an email, our "podcast manifesto" (text excerpted below), and now that we've refined the idea thought it would be good to share it with you, warts and all. Just keepin' it real.)

I believe that podcasting is a remarkable opportunity in the world of advertising. A good many people are trying to figure the "medium" out right now. There are a lot of models popping up, from automated ad insertion (a la traditional broadcast) to brand co-hosting (http://www.talentzoo.com/lounge/radiotalentzoo/) to brand-generated content such as Whirlpool's "The American Family Podcast" (http://www.whirlpool.com/custserv/promo.jsp?sectionId=563). Then there are the Podcast "networks".

I don't think the money's in the ads with these.

I think where this technology will have the most payback for marketers is in generating content that connects with their customers for the long haul - the kind of small investment for a brand that establishes a higher level of trust and commitment from the client by connecting with them. Platitudes aside, an advertiser can't make the same kind of connection in a TV :30 than they can with a 10-20 minute show on, for example, Accidental Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, whether you're an appliance company or big pharma.

This is an important medium for marketers and it needs to be done well - and by pros.

The aesthetics and mechanics are easy for us: research, casting, producing, writing, recording and editing. We're doing three weekly shows right now.

The point: the creative agency/production company/studio that can supply AND place the finished product – the branded podcast - is going to do well.

The sell: whether it be to agencies or Brand Managers, is still a tough one – but so were Google's contextual placements, 5 years ago.

We know our advantage is in production quality and media savvy.

So my question for you is, where do you see this going? What do you want to be doing?

Holla.

Remember Full House?

Remember the TV Show "Full House" from 10 years ago?

The #1 Network show today has FEWER viewers than Full House did 10 years ago.

It's getting harder for marketers to connect with consumers - or have the channels simply changed?

It's not about us...

So you won't be reading a lot about us in this blog, but about the people we're working with and how we're helping them reach their market.

We're a group of ad/marketing/production pros that have embraced podcasting as a way to help our clients connect with their customers. It doesn't hurt that we've got some damn fine writers, producers, and researchers on board, and in coming entries we'll be telling you about the projects we can tell you about, what we're learning about the "space", what we're finding works, and what we're finding doesn't. Very Web 2.0, no?

Stay Tuned, there's a guy telling me something right now that's blowing my mind.