Saturday, November 04, 2006

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.