Joey Scarillo Is Making the Case for Branded Podcasts
This is a guest blog post, written by Joey Scarillo of Grey. EarBuds Podcast Collective is a listening movement. We send a weekly email that contains a theme and 5 podcast episodes on that theme, and each week’s podcast picks are curated by a different person. Anyone can curate a list. We also release our lists as blog posts from time to time.
CURATOR: Joey Scarillo
THEME: Branded Podcasts Are Your Friend
WHY THIS THEME? Let’s face it, brand messaging is everywhere – from traditional ads, listicles, movies, and yes, podcasts. As someone who works in at the intersection of creative advertising and podcasts, I’m here to relieve you of any lingering apprehension towards branded podcasts you might have.
First, and foremost, what the heck is a branded podcast? It’s a podcast. The only difference is that is presented by a company, an organization, a group, or individual to promote their brand.
The responsibility of a marketer who creates a branded podcast is primarily the same as any podcaster. When brands create a podcast, they are creating a platform to share their voice, and not creating long-winded ads. It’s an opportunity for a brand to capture interest, gain trust, and offer something that will truly make the listener’s life better. This is a high bar, but large brands must balance these three criteria to be successful with their branded podcast.
As a listener, regardless of if a brand is presenting the podcast or not, you are an equal participant in this exchange of information. As in all forms of media, the listener should be informed, engage with the content, and share it when possible.
Know if the podcast you are listening to is presented from a brand.
If you see a brand’s icon on the cover art, or if a brand’s name is mentioned as a presenting sponsor, know that they had a hand in producing what you are listening to.
All podcasters love when listeners engage with their shows. Some shows create communities, some ask for stars and comments, and others share offer codes. A great way to continue receiving the content you like from a podcast is to engage and be active with the show's creator. Podcasts are generally free, and creators are encouraged to keep producing when they know their audience is engaged; this is true of big-name brands, and independent creators alike.
Share podcast episodes you listen to. Many of my friends have received texts from me with links to episodes, but most often I encourage people via word of mouth to listen to a podcast I enjoyed or found helpful. When you share a podcast, you are not just ticking up a podcast count for some metric, you are engaging in the exchange of ideas. This how ideas spread.
As a marketer, the first step in creating a podcast for your potential customers is to never to think of them as customers. As I mentioned, branded podcasts should not be 30-minute ads.
If you are a marketer of toothpaste, your customers are in the toothpaste aisle. In podcasting, you are targeting listeners first, and customers in a distant second. When you commit to making a podcast, you’re no longer just a toothpaste brand, you are a podcaster, and that bears a level of responsibility.
Know your audience. To get listeners to your first episode, you’ll need your audience to be interested in your subject. In marketing and podcasting alike we build profiles for our listeners; this is called targeting. And when we create those profiles, we should take into consideration what the listener is interested in. If we don’t, then our target will ignore our podcast.
For our toothpaste brand, if you want to talk about toothpaste exclusively on a podcast, that’s great, but you must understand what your audience wants to hear. Consider your brand’s values, mission, or beliefs for potential podcast subjects. A podcast only about toothpaste might be targeted to a very narrow audience – dentists.
Build on trust. A great branded podcast will lead listeners to trust the brand. Trust is the most precious intangible metric in podcasting. To get a listener to an episode of your show is a huge hurdle, but to get your listeners to the second episode and beyond, like any good relationship, you need the build on trust.
Give the listener something. Remember the large responsibility you have as a podcast creator. Give your listeners some new perspective, important information, or a fresh insight. Give them tips, tricks, or hacks to make their life better, but do not sell them a product, sell them on your brand. This applies to large-scale marketers and small businesses alike.
What I have learned from producing two podcasts for the global creative agency Grey is that the best way to share your message is to put the listeners’ perspective front and center. On the #5Things podcast we know our audience is mostly marketers, so we aim to provide them with concise information and an entertaining take on the latest updates in social media. On Grey Matter: A Podcast About Ideas, we target creative minds from all walks of life to share stories about where the best ideas come from.
Below I have compiled a list of five branded podcasts. If you are new to the concept of branded podcasts this is a great place to start. Some of these shows you may be surprised to learn are branded podcasts. Below I offer my opinions and what I think makes them special.
Branded Podcasts Are Your Friend
EPISODES:
Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America (from Ben & Jerry’s)
Desire, Prosperity, Fortune, Hope
27 minutes
This is a show that knows its audience. If you know Ben & Jerry’s beyond the freezer aisle, you know the ice cream makers for their activism. A quick visit to Ben & Jerry’s Issues We Care About page will show you a number of causes including racial justice, LGBT equality, and climate justice. It should come as no surprise that Ben & Jerry’s would create content that promotes those messages.
Ben & Jerry’s partnered with Vox Creative and the Who We Are Project to create Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America. This series was launched in September 2020 after the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The show’s purpose is to provide an honest look at the history in the United States that granted white supremacy a place to spread for the past 400+ years.
The series is 6 episodes, and I suggest starting from the beginning.
Hello Monday (LinkedIn)
Roxane Gay: Bad Feminist, Master Writer
23 minutes
Launched in 2019, Hello Monday from LinkedIn is a weekly conversation about the changing world of work. They’ve featured guests like Seth Meyers, Abby Wambach, Angela Duckworth, and leaders from all different fields to ask about their work.
This show is weekly, you could jump in anywhere. I recommend Hello Monday’s October 2019 interview with Roxanne Gay because the conversation is a wonderful look at confidence, work balance, and feminism. Roxanne is candid and honest about her writing process, and if you aren’t familiar with her work, this is a great introduction.
The host Jessi Hempel, combines tough examination with a certain warmth that challenges the guests to craft their best answer. When Jessi asks a question, you can hear a smile in her voice.
We trust LinkedIn because we know them as a professional community for networking. They dig into this community by hosting weekly live discussions on the platform with Jessi and the editorial team at LinkedIn.
The Message / LifeAfter (from GE)
15 minutes
GE delivered us the OG branded podcast in November 2016. This fictional show set the standard for what branded podcasts (and largely branded content in general) could be. It reimagines the future of technology, in a high stakes and mysterious story. It's written by playwright Mac Rogers and was awarded by The Cannes Lions.
What Rogers along with the team at GE (via BBDO) and Panoply did effortlessly was intersperse real GE technology into the science fiction story, which made the brand almost invisible, and gave the listener a fictional escape from their own reality.
It’s also worth noting that I am huge fan of fiction podcasts, and for as many fiction shows as there are out there, this story holds up. The Message was one of the first fiction podcasts I listened to. If you are new to fiction podcasts too, I recommend starting here.
Life/After is the sequel to The Message and can be found on the same podcast feed. Start from the beginning of The Message.
DTR (from Tinder)
31 minutes
If you want a brand to feel like a best friend, check out DTR from Tinder and Gimlet Creative. For the untrained texter, DTR means Define The Relationship. In other words, it’s exactly what you want in a podcast from Tinder. When this show came out in 2016, I was engaged to my now wife, and so I obviously had no need for dating apps. However, some people, myself included, enjoy hearing stories from their single friends.
This show gives the listener ways to navigate the tricky world of online dating. They discuss the subtle but powerful use of the word Hey, unnavigable Mixed Signals, and finding love for many types of people. The show is honest, colloquial, and they swear a lot.
The season one finale, Tinder Takeover, is a slam dunk for the brand. The host takes over the Tinder accounts of two women and provides tips, tricks, and advice for all the single folks out there.
I’ll just say, I wish there were more episodes of this show. If I were in the market for a dating app, this show would make me feel that Tinder is in my corner.
So You Want to Work Abroad (Cole Haan)
26 minutes
Back in March I heard a trailer for this show and was very excited by the concept. The title says it all. So You Want to Work Abroad. If you ever dreamed about leaving the states, (and who hasn’t these days?) this is a show to check out. SYWTWA is not a show about Cole Haan’s shoes, bags, or outerwear, but rather where you can take them.
T-Brand Studio brings to life the real stories of true adventure seekers and perfectly captures the interest of the young professional. With the new reality of remote working, living abroad is starting to seem like a real possibility. If you are like me, you probably will not leave the country for your dream job, but these days imagining it is half the fun.
As of right now, there are only two full episodes. The pandemic brought travel to a standstill earlier this year, which seems to have set the show back. I will be keeping an eye out for more episodes, and in the meantime, if Grey happens to send me to Australia, I will gladly listen to the new episodes of Cole Haan’s podcast from there!
GET IN TOUCH: podcasts@grey.com /// @joeyscar on twitter
SELF PROMO: Grey has two podcasts:
On Grey Matter: A Podcast About Ideas, we examine where the most innovative and impactful ideas come from, for creative and curious minds.
Grey’s second podcast is #5Things, a weekly round table discussion about social media, tech, and culture, designed for marketers, advertisers, influencers, and social media enthusiasts.
I’m Joey Scarillo, I am the lead producer for both podcasts, and I’ve been a creative project manager at Grey New York for five years. I’ve worked with many brands including Gillette, P&G, National Park Foundation, Jif, Folgers, and UPMC. I am also a member of The Podcast Academy.
HASHTAG FOR DISCUSSION: #BrandPods
Hey, readers! Did you enjoy this blog post? We wanted to combine two of our favorite things: podcast listening and guest contributions. Do you have an idea for a blog post that combines podcasts with your favorite things? Let us know! We’d love for you to write a guest blog post for us!
