The Secret to Developing a Great Podcast as a Brand
When brands start thinking about making a podcast, one of the first questions is:
“What should our show be about?”
This question is particularly challenging for brands because there are two different parties whose needs have to be met: the brand’s needs, and the audience’s needs. Otherwise, why make a show?
For the brand, you obviously need to have your business goals, strategy, brand voice and values baked into the concept. After all, if you make a show that is JUST for the audience and doesn’t communicate anything about your brand, why are you making the show and what benefits are there?
However, if you make a show that is too directly about your brand, your business goals and your business strategy, very few people will listen to it. Why? Because it’s tough to build a loyal audience for an infomercial. Your show needs to be about something the audience is genuinely interested in and needs to create real value for audiences.
Often, the sweet spot is found in sharing content and ideas about areas of interest for the brand that are also areas of interest for the audience. These topics are often one step removed from the direct industry or business line of the brand.
The Example: Trailblazers with Walter Isaacson
Dell Technologies provides a great example. When Dell and EMC merged in 2016, they created a new umbrella brand, Dell Technologies. As a new brand, their business goal was to raise brand awareness and to let audiences know that the combined companies have unique expertise in digital transformation.
The podcast, Trailblazers with Walter Isaacson, is not about Dell Technologies or their suite of products and services. Each episode is the history of disruption and innovation in a particular industry, told from the perspective of the people who were there are at the crucial moments when the fate of a company or industry was determined.
For the audience, the show is filled with fantastic business lessons, compelling stories, and themes that are synthesized by Walter. And the reviews speak for themselves:
For Dell Technologies, the show is a master class in innovation and digital transformation — as the publisher of the podcast, each episode deepens the audience trust and understanding that this is a core area of their expertise. Their brand awareness is growing as the podcast gets more and more popular and the brand positioning (experts in digital transformation) grows with each new episode.
And when you get it right, people notice. The show has recently been nominated for a Webby Award (vote here!) and two Digiday content marketing awards.
The Takeaway
Balance ‘both sides of the coin’ and come up with a podcast concept that audiences will love listening to, but that also achieves your business goals and is on strategy. You’ll have a great podcast concept that’s a win-win for both parties.
If you’d like to learn more about podcasting as a brand, here’s a few more articles you might be interested in reading:
Podcast Success for Brands in One Graph.
The Unfair Advantages of Brands as Podcasters.
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