Volume Amplify: What are ‘branded podcasts’ and why are they so effective?
This blogpost is part of a series about branded podcasts from Volume Amplify.
Podcasts are no strangers to advertising. We’ve all heard those “Casper Mattress”, “Zip Recruiter”, and “Simply Safe” ad inserts between segments of Planet Money or How I Built This. But branded podcasts are completely different from this. A branded podcast would be closer to your favourite show doing an episode — or even a whole series! — about one of your products, services, or case studies. Simply because they think it would be interesting to their listeners. A branded podcast is much more than just an ad. It’s a unique opportunity to create a meaningful and magical marketing moment for your business or organization.
What does a branded podcast actually consist of?
In its most denotative sense, a branded podcast is simply a podcast produced by or in partnership with a company, business, NGO, or other organization for marketing or message amplification purposes. What makes this medium different from other avenues of advertisement is that, as one journalist described it, “branded podcasts are the ads people actually want to listen to”. This is because a branded podcast should, first and foremost, be an astoundingly good podcast that audiences would listen to regardless of who produced it or for what purposes it was created. The only difference between a podcast and a branded podcast, in the end, is that the story being told is about your product, company history, innovations, role in the industry, or customer story.
The genius of branded podcasts lies in that it is, at its core, about telling an engaging story using the unique creative tools offered by podcasting:
- Immersive and captivating story-telling
- Compelling conversations or interviews
- High-production value
- Amazing music and sound design
- Content that inspires, excites, entertains, or intrigues listeners
How Does a Branded Podcast Help Your Market Your Message?
Branded podcasts generally serve as a long-term marketing plan that helps enterprises:
- Market their business or services by demonstrating their knowledge, showcase their expertise, and building positive brand association.
- Create public engagement with their brand.
- Position themselves as industry or thought-leaders.
- Create an engaging internal educational or organizational messaging tool.
- Recruit employees.
The BBC Global News’ Branded Content Division recently did an empirical study where they measured how branded audio content is perceived, engaged with, and retained by listeners. These are just some of their findings:
1. Branding stands out from surrounding content: “Brand mentions in the podcast deliver on average 16% higher engagement and 12% higher memory encoding than the surrounding content […] The intimate and conversational nature of the podcast environment creates an elevated state of engagement for brand mentions”
2. Branded podcasts achieve cut-through with ad avoiders: “Memory encoding around brand mentions beat TV benchmarks by at least 22%, showing that branded podcasts are an effective way to engage this hard to reach but commercially-desirable group.”
3. Branded podcasts drive positive brand associations: “Listeners create subconscious associations with the brand, based on words they hear in the podcast.”
The study also found that because podcast listeners are active — they are more engaged with the content. 94% of listeners consume podcasts while doing activities such as chores, driving, commuting, or exercising. Rather than reducing brand impact, the study showed that this activeness increased engagement (+18%), emotional intensity (+40%) and long-term memory of the podcast (+22%).
The last lasting value of branded podcasting lies in the act of producing the podcast itself. We are on the cusp of the golden age of podcasting, and to bring out a well-scripted, high-production podcast for your company or organization demonstrates clear innovativeness and industry-leadership. Branded podcasts are in the perfect spot now where there is an established market, but it isn’t saturated yet. Only the most forward-thinking organizations are doing it.
How Are Branded Podcasts Produced?
It is not difficult to produce a podcast. It is, however, extremely difficult to produce a good podcast. Companies serious about doing it right usually turn to expert producers or creatives who can offer experience, expertise, guidance, and equipment. There are podcasting networks such as Volume that offer branded podcast production as part of their services. At Volume we call this well-developed arm of the business Volume Amplify. What we do at Volume Amplify is take the creativity and production expertise that has helped our original shows like Alibi become national hits — and helping companies craft bespoke content for in-house or external marketing campaigns.
With Volume Amplify we usually work closely with the client — relying on their unique institutional knowledge and industry expertise to become the main ingredient in the podcast. We guide the client to ideate concepts and shape the episode scripts. We set-up recording sessions and coach participants on how to sound natural on a recorded interview or conversation. We then take care of all the additional recording, archival material editing, mastering, and scoring. The end result is a top-tier audio production that is perfectly packaged for digital distribution, not only showing off your expertise, industry standing, or core values — but also allowing you to boast with an innovative marketing outlet that people actually enjoy listening to.
