The Power of Consumer Brands Podcasts in Experiential Marketing
Consumer brands podcasts are now a big part of experiential marketing for consumer brands. They transform old engagement methods and create a more immersive brand experience. This blog post explores the big role of podcasts in enriching marketing strategies. They also help build deeper emotional connections with audiences.
Today’s attention economy. Brands must do more than advertise. To stand out, they must tell compelling stories. The stories must resonate with consumers. This is a strategy known as “value-based” marketing.
What Is Experiential Marketing?
Experiential Marketing (XM) involves creating immersive brand experiences through various activities such as:
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Big sponsorships
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Brand events
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Video and regular displays
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Virtual Reality activations
Forbes reported that many CMOs plan to allocate 21% to 50% of their budgets to brand experiences. They plan to do this in the coming years. Deloitte predicts that the global podcasting market will continue to expand, projecting a growth rate of 20% to reach US$4.5 billion by 2028. Adding a consumer brands podcast to experiential marketing is a natural step.
The Value of Consumer Brands Podcasts in XM
1. Podcasts Are Quantitative
The lifeblood of XM activation is the total impressions, customer interactions, and touch-points of the brand to the consumer. This is often the only measurable ROI in XM and goes back to a simple concept: build it and they will come, and you will define success by how many came. Rarely in experiential marketing is there an opportunity to sell or for the consumer to actually purchase anything; rather, it’s an experience for them powered by the brand. Enter podcasts. Audio success is measured in many ways, and in no greater sense than its total impressions. A truly impactful brand podcast will not only draw in listeners, subscribers, and downloads, but it will also leave a massive crater of brand recall as it climbs the charts – even amongst those who didn’t even listen!
2. Podcasts Are Also Qualitative
Another crucial element of experiential marketing is the true feeling and emotion created by the activation. To measure this, marketers must rely on surveys meant to measure the impact of the event, or some other form of in-field analysis to tell them if they moved the needle. Often, the result is ambiguous – and yet, this does not deter big brands from renewing sponsorships and allocating big budgets to experiential marketing again in the following years. In podcasts, we’re faced with the same question – “does this particular experience with the brand actually change perceptions and move the needle?” – which we can answer by looking at the podcast’s analytics and metrics such as reviews and total organic reach and listens. If the feeling was positive, we’ll know right away.
3. Podcasts Create Emotional Connections
The magic term in marketing is ’emotional connection’. Marketers want people to feel something when they interact with a brand, as it will lead to greater returns down the road. And not just in traditional mediums (TV, Print) – but also with blogs and social media. With many marketers relying on smartphones as the doorway to the eyeballs, their efforts have been forced to escalate on the emotional scale to hit the “shareworthy” notes. But with podcasts, we don’t need to rely on eyeballs. We don’t need to hit the same emotional notes as Instagram influencers, targeted search ads, or even viral videos. Because podcasts are audio-based. And audio is personal and intimate. A podcast is a marketing medium where the audience has chosen to put all other smart apps aside and dedicate their attention to a completely different sense.
We think Michael Barbaro, host of The Daily podcast says it best:
When you strip away everything else but the voice and you have the intimacy of these earbuds, or you’re in your car at five a.m. on a dark road listening. There’s just something pure about it.
— Michael Barbaro, Host of The Daily
4. Podcasts Are Immersive
Podcasts can capture attention for at least 5-10 minutes, if not up to an hour or more, so by nature, they are quite immersive. They also foster a much greater sense of immersion for listeners: that of community and belonging.
Community. It’s a word—if not the word—that the podcasting industry was built on. Creators and listeners found a place to connect with people, no matter how far away, who are interested and passionate about the same thing as them. And not in a quick high-five kind of way, but in a way that connects people with long, deep, meaningful conversations.
— Voxnest, 2019 Report The State of the Podcast Universe
We’ve seen this alluring connection happen firsthand when we launched the podcast for Saje Natural Wellness and paired it with an in-store activation. Saje wasn’t the only one to take this route. Sephora, one of the world’s largest personal care and beauty stores, took their XM to the next level by launching a podcast with Girlboss Radio to celebrate a special production collection. The #LIPSTORIES podcast was launched to celebrate Sephora’s collection (also called #LIPSTORIES) of 40 lipsticks inspired by real-life stories. This podcast quickly reached the top of the fashion and beauty Apple podcast charts.
Trader Joe’s launched Inside Trader Joe’s to provide a rare behind-the-scenes look at the history of the company, its products, and inner workings. It launched in the top 5 on the Apple charts and has not slowed down since. For a company known to be extremely secretive, a podcast was the only way to give their cult followers what they really wanted—and make them even more devoted.
5. Podcasts Are A Bold (And Worthy) Way To Spend A Marketing Budget
Have you personally ever experienced Virtual Reality (VR)? On a consumer level, it actually dates all the way back to 1995 with Nintendo’s Virtual Boy, meaning it’s been waiting for mass-market adoption for over 25 years. And despite major advances in hardware, software, and overall creativity, it has yet to really catch on.
To date, we’ve seen brands like Ikea, Nat Geo, ANA, Oreo, Volvo, and even Boursin (the cheese brand) develop VR activations for consumers. Worthy efforts no doubt, but it’s not cheap to develop and map 3D environments. But these brands persist, as VR is seen as a bold and innovative medium.
Podcasting is bold too – it’s not traditional like other XM tactics – but unlike VR, it is already a mass-adopted medium, with measurable results, success stories, and a much lower price of entry.
There are many ways to integrate a podcast into your current XM efforts – they can either complement each other, or the activations can serve as the actual content of the podcast.
Here are some thought starters for a few industries:
Food Retail Brands
Taking a page from Costco’s book, podcast XM is a great opportunity to deliver an in-store experience for food brand consumers. This could take the shape of a podcast about different taste testing/activation stations (think Pepsi vs Coke in the mid-1990s), interviews with customers, or even live podcast events in the store.
Lifestyle Retail Brands
Companies with their own brick and mortars have an opportunity to make every store visit one to remember – and a podcast can play a huge part in that experience. Take it from one of our clients, Saje Natural Wellness, who used in-store podcast plays as part of a strategy that helped them top the charts!
Travel & Tourism Brands
Destination marketing already has XM in its roots (every vacation is an experience onto itself) and podcasting only enhances that. Pre-trip podcasts at home, in the car, in-hotel/airport listening ports, or even podcasts hosted live at large events (like Condé Nast Traveler’s Women Who Travel podcast) or in amazing destinations could fall under a strong XM strategy.
- Integrating Podcasts with Experiential Marketing
Podcasts from consumer brands can complement other experiences. They can also be standalone content in a marketing strategy. They offer a unique way to improve in-store experiences. They also help with destination marketing and brand engagement.
The Future of Consumer Brands Podcasts in Marketing
Podcasts offer a superior form of experiential marketing. They offer measurable, immersive, and emotional content. It can greatly increase ROI. This is compared to traditional XM activities.
Consumer brands podcasts are not merely supplemental to experiential marketing strategies; they are essential, offering a distinctive approach to connect with and captivate audiences effectively.
Key Takeaways:
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Consumer brands podcasts integrate into experiential marketing strategies, enhancing brand engagement.
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Podcasts provide both numbers and insights. They make up a key part of marketing.
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Audio is intimate. This intimacy lets consumer brands’ podcasts form deeper emotional connections. They are deeper than visual media.
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Podcasts are an immersive medium that can maintain listener attention and foster community.
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Podcasts from consumer brands are a cheap alternative to VR.
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.
