Have A Listen
When brands turn to podcasting, consumers are all ears.
Brands have long been using useful and exclusive content to engage their consumers more organically across devices and platforms, building suitable content with the subsequent desire to subscribe to it. In this ongoing quest to cultivate audiences through diverse platforms, more and more brands are launching podcasts, acting as full-fledged media companies, and creating their own intellectual property to disrupt the way they connect with customers.
Staples rolled out its new Worklife content offering, which includes a magazine, blog entries, and a podcast, joining a laundry list of other retailers who have turned to the increasingly popular audio medium. In 2018, Away launched its The New York Times featured travel podcast Airplane Mode. Harrods launched an audio program focused on the meaning of luxury; Avon has one, focused on entrepreneurship, as do Barneys New York (fashion, style, culture, and personality), Guerlain (fragrances and olfactory memory), Hugo Boss Fragrances (wellness for men) and Queen V (women in business).
Ultimately, part of the reason for the shift toward a more storytelling-based strategy comes from the fact it does not impose anything: stories told through podcasting direct listeners’ attention not to the brand itself, but to broader meaning and values, which proves valuable for both consumer and brand. Through storytelling, podcasts don’t communicate with the consumer, they communicate with people.