Discover how branded podcasts use cultural touchpoints like nostalgia and fun to deepen audience connections.
When the JAR Audio team gathered at North Star Machines on Blvd. St. Laurent in Montréal, we weren’t just playing pinball—we were diving headfirst into a cultural moment. Surrounded by vintage machines like Flash Gordon, The Big Lebowski, The Beatles, Stranger Things, and my personal favorite—a slow-moving Dolly Parton gem—it became clear that pinball isn’t just a game. It’s a story, a time machine, a portal to shared memories.
For us, this outing was more than just fun; it was an opportunity to bond as a team and build experiences that will sustain us through the long remote-work winter ahead. This ‘pinball summit’ happened just last week, but I’m already nostalgic for the big smiles and witty banter of my co-workers. The experience reminded me of the power of nostalgia—how it creates emotional connections, sparks joy, and evokes strong memories. Podcasts, like pinball, thrive when they tap into those cultural moments and emotions that matter.
Is your podcast strategy leveraging nostalgia?
Connecting with your audience: What brands can learn about nostalgia
When launching a branded podcast, there’s one truth that transcends everything else: your primary job is to connect with your audience emotionally.
A podcast isn’t about rattling off a laundry list of products or delivering a lecture on how amazing your brand is (even if it is). Nor is it about how famous your guests are or how smart your CEO sounds. At its core, a podcast should show your audience that you understand their world, values, and stories. Just like pinball machines, podcasts can anchor themselves in cultural moments, creating meaningful, lasting connections.
Nostalgia: A shortcut to connection
Nostalgia is one of the most powerful tools for emotional connection. It brings audiences back to moments when they felt alive, understood, or at home. It’s also an effective way to reflect on how things have changed.
Take the Canadian podcast Sweater Weather, for instance, which revisits iconic TV shows like The Littlest Hobo and Mr. Dressup. By tying contemporary cultural analysis to beloved staples of Canadian life, the show taps into nostalgia while delivering fresh insights. Another great example is Drew Frohmann’s Sorry About the Murder, a fiction podcast set in an iconic Canadian small town reminiscent of the author’s upbringing. Through the juxtaposition of small-town charm and an insidious murder plot, Frohmann has created a unique genre of “Canadiana True Crime Fiction” that’s winning awards.
Lesson for brands: Nostalgia isn’t just about looking back—it’s about using the past to help audiences understand the present. A B2C or B2B podcast production agency can help you identify shared experiences or cultural moments that resonate and weave them into your storytelling.
Fun fuels engagement
Pinball is chaos in its purest, most delightful form. It draws people in with the thrill of unpredictability and the chase for a high score (or just surviving a few rounds with Dolly). That same playful energy is crucial in podcasting.
Branded podcast agencies can help get you there.
Nice Genes, for example, recently did an episode called “Fatal Attraction: Insect Edition,” which dives into the genetics of carnivorous fireflies. To illustrate a point about female fireflies eating their mates, they staged a fictional firefly disco—a playful addition that worked perfectly.
Fun doesn’t mean frivolous. Even serious topics can benefit from creative sound design, engaging anecdotes, or energetic hosts. Fun keeps listeners paying attention and coming back for more.
Culture as bedrock
The machines at North Star weren’t just games; they were stories tied to shared cultural moments. The Flash Gordon machine brought sci-fi camp to life, The Beatles machine honored a musical legacy, The Big Lebowski evoked 90s cinema, and Stranger Things reframed 80s nostalgia for a new generation.
For brands, anchoring your podcast in meaningful cultural touchpoints gives your storytelling depth. Take Creative Rites, an episode of Cirque du Soleil’s Cirque du Sound. In it, anthropologist Wade Davis connects his first haircut to ancient rites of passage across global cultures. This mix of personal and cultural storytelling creates something both relatable and profound.
Key takeaway: Cultural touchstones ground your message in something familiar yet universal, helping your audience see themselves in your story.
The bottom line: Podcasts are about people
Whether it’s a podcast, a pinball game, or a pint at North Star, the magic happens when you put people first. The best podcasts inform, entertain, and, above all, connect.
So, if you’re considering launching a branded podcast, here’s your cheat sheet:
1. Start with emotion: Evoke feelings and memories through storytelling.
2. Have fun: Inject energy and creativity into every episode.
3. Tap into culture: Find the touchstones that matter most to your audience.
4. Don’t sell, share: Focus on telling stories that resonate, not pitching products.
At JAR Audio, we aim to create podcasts that build emotional connections. Whether we’re yanking a pinball flipper, writing a podcast script, or planning a podcast marketing strategy, the goal is always the same: to hit the emotional jackpot.
Jen Moss is the Co-Founder and and Chief Creative Officer of JAR Audio. As JAR’s podcast “doula”, collaborating with enterprise brands to bring great podcasts into the world. With a background spanning CBC Radio, Canada’s National Film Board Digital Studio, Vancouver’s Roundhouse Radio and the University of British Columbia, she guides the creation of captivating podcasts at JAR.
