Since the onset of the pandemic in the U.S., data from Acast has shown that podcasts aren’t just for your commute to work. In this episode, Tess Neudeck, Marketing Marketing, Americas for Acast, and Emily Binder talk finding guests for your show, the future of podcasting, and how to monetize your podcast.
John Andrews, CEO of Photofy, a community content creation platform, and Emily talk about all things Marketing Post-COVID in this week's episode. This episode has it all: social media advertising, the future of retail, and amazon to eCommerce. See what these two think the future holds for marketing and which tactics have been most successful in the last several months.
What makes a good podcast? How about a great podcast? In this episode, Emily and Steve discuss the best ways to create a valuable message to grow your podcast audience as well as how companies should be approaching podcasting as a new form of content marketing. They also discuss emerging opportunities with audio content and voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri.
Guest: JJ Ramberg is the co-founder of Goodpods, the new app where you can follow your friends, influencers, and favorite podcasters to see what they're listening to. JJ spent 13 years as an anchor on MSNBC and also co-founded the coupon site Goodshop.com. She is the author of two books -- the Wall Street Journal immediate bestseller, It's Your Business, and the children's book The Startup Club.
Intro: We all love a little “good” in our lives. In this episode, host Emily Binder and JJ dive into the optimism and simplicity that JJ’s app Goodpods offers to its users. The app provides users a way to give and get recommendations for podcasts from their friends and fellow users in a world where podcasting is becoming more and more popular.
Emily and JJ continue their conversation to discuss the ins and outs of building an app, making money, podcast advertising, the podcasts they’re loving right now, and more.
0:55: Meet JJ Ramberg
1:20: What is Goodpods?: Gravitating towards goodness.
“At its core, it’s just a way to find great new podcasts, and for podcasts to find new listeners.” - JJ Ramberg
3:45: Goodpods is Goodreads for podcasts. Download the app and claim your handle now. Follow @emilybinder and @JJ on Goodpods.
Co-founders and siblings, JJ and Ken Ramberg
5:00: The origins of Goodpods. JJ co-founded Goodpods with her brother Ken. They are both big podcast listeners.
“In 2019, 50% of the US population has at least listened to a podcast, and a third of them listen at least monthly.” Via Edison Research
6:05: These days, podcasting offers so much more than entertainment. More people are turning to podcasts for up to date news and information about what’s happening in the world, and sharing joy with those around them.
8:30: Podcasts are “low commitment.” You can consume information and entertainment more simply and easily. It’s a short-form content, and that’s the opposite of what we’re experiencing on social media.
9:20: Social media can be a negative space these days, linked to depression and addiction. But podcasting offers positivity, education, and entertainment.
10:21: Sharing podcast recommendations from the app: Ologies hosted by Alie Ward (check out the COVID-19 episode entitled Virology)
12:10 JJ loves Cool Mules podcast from CANADALAND and 10% Happier with Dan Harris
“These conversations are happening everywhere. We’ve just codified it, so you don’t have to remember them anymore.” - JJ Ramberg
15:55: Designing the Goodpods app: “We wanted it to be familiar” - JJ Ramberg
16:50: Beta testing: Goodpods is constantly adopting the app to be as simple and user friendly as possible.
17:01: So how does Goodpods make money? As a listener, a lot of people fast forward through ads. Is podcast advertising in a good place? Is it effective?
19:00 Podcast advertising is going to change in the coming years. Emily recommends: Six Pixels of Separation #700 – Seth Godin on Podcasting
“It’s not about how many people are listening, but what is the quality of the audience. Are they interested in a really niche topic? Because this medium lets you get so niche.”
21:20: Discussing parasocial relationships. Why do we sometimes feel like we are friends with podcasters, tv characters, etc.?
22:00: Growing podcast viewership is often the number one goal or metric for a podcaster. What is the best way to promote a new or existing podcast?
23:58: Emily and JJ discuss “Calls to Action,” or CTAs. It’s tough to get a reaction sometimes; you have to make things as easy as possible for the listener.
25:20: There are 800,000 podcasts. Don’t try to compete with the top podcasts on the charts, compete within your niche, and build the target audience for your specific brand.
“We weren't trying to be everything to everybody. We were just trying to be what we’re supposed to be for our audience.” - JJ Ramberg
28:38: JJ’s podcast recommendations: WeCrashed, a podcast about the rise and fall of WeWork, and the Ten Percent Happier Podcast with Dan Harris.
Goodpods is always looking for feedback and suggestions for their app. If you would like to submit a comment or suggestion, email JJ at jj (at) goodpods (dot) com.
Goodpods Co-Founder JJ Ramberg
How can brands use sound to connect with customers? As voice technology becomes embedded in consumers’ lives, the sound of your brand will be increasingly important.
What should your brand sound like on Alexa? Because this is a transitional moment in voice technology, right now there is a real opportunity to be an early adopter, especially for a vertical like FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) as we expect an $80 billion voice commerce market by 2023.
Bottom line, this is about using sound to connect with customers and strengthen your consistent brand voice.
Guest: Designed in Italy and assembled in Germany, Michele Arnese is a self-driven strategic and creative thinker with a strong entrepreneurial approach. As Global CEO and Creative Director of amp, in the field of audio branding, he's considered one of the world's foremost experts, with clients including Mastercard, Mercedes, Porsche, BBVA, Geberit, BMW, UniCredit, MINI, Triumph, The Linde Group and a range of international awards for his work with amp.
Sound DNA by amp
03:00 Michele’s story from management consulting and music to founding amp a decade ago
04:10 Why sonic branding matters. First: think of James Bond as a sonic identity: this is key to the elevator pitch to convince clients of the importance of sonic branding. Close your eyes and listen to Shirley Bassey or Adele. You can see James Bond in your mind.
05:30 Sonic DNA: a core track or melody that translates to all different brand touch points such as video, commercials, transaction sounds
06:00 Sonic logo has been around a long time (famous examples include Intel and T-Mobile). Sonic DNA is a new idea: it’s about ingredients, you can combine differently to create different sonic assets for different touch points (like James Bond has different sounds for Skyfall or other editions).
07:00 Sonic branding must be more flexible and complex than just a jingle
07:15 Mastercard client work: a melody approach to the sonic DNA then developing music for very different touch points including audio visual and digital channels plus global campaigns like 2019 where we did a sonic watermark.
07:50 MasterCard New York restaurant watermark for different soundscapes
08:00 Flexibility and recognition is the payoff for sonic branding, the ROI essentially
08:15 Budget for visual brand identity with logos (think of Gap or Tropicana logo rebrands) - why don’t we question this but in sonic branding it is harder to get budget
09:00 Music is an old connection to humans (in our brains) but a new discipline for brand strategy. Brands must break through clutter. Voice assistants like Alexa and voice tech introduce an awareness for the need to be recognized in a non-visual environment.
09:40 ROI of sonic branding - amp client UniCredit’s study: client had savings in terms of music production budget and licenses and AV production (able to begin with owned material)
“The Sound of BBVA: Bringing the age of opportunity to everyone. Using the BBVA sound DNA, we developed a holistic audio identity covering all digital and physical spaces. This sonic branding project stands above and beyond the rest, serving as a benchmark for future audio branding projects.” Case study: amp - BBVA’s sonic branding
11:10 We process sound and music in the limbic system, same place brain stores emotion - this where brands want to be processed, too
11:30:
There are a lot of studies that explain the brain statistics, but if you go back to yourself, to your experience: what counts is the association that you get with the brand and the sonic ecosystem. - Michele Arnese
12:00 Michele’s research process to create a sonic mood board through immersion (example: he walks through retail store and listens)
12:30:
We create a new dimension of a brand identity. - Michele Arnese
13:00 Some of amp’s clients are in banking and financial services, also many in auto industry and FMCG
13:30 His financial sector work began with UniCredit then BBVA - this sector had a need for greater human connection between brand and customers
THE SOUND OF PORSCHE. AN ENTIRELY NEW, INTERACTIVE BRAND EXPERIENCE.
“Tasked to create an audio branding concept for the Porsche sound lab, we created an interactive sound installation featuring soundscapes and video mapping techniques.” - amp
13:50: Some banking and financial brands realized that the human connection was missing and music could help. This is why we have seen an explosion of cases [for sonic branding] in the financial industry. - Michele
14:20 Financial services is changing greatly in last five years: fewer branches and physical location, but need to instill trust and physical security. Must compensate for changing landscape of brand experience with something that can establish the connection like music.
15:20 What is the function of the Mastercard Acceptance sound (the sound indicating that payment is successful)?
15:50 Acceptance sound for credit card company is to 1) establish trust and 2) reiterate brand recognition
16:30 How does a brand apply sonic branding to voice as with Alexa or Google Assistant? Understand the translation of the brand into sonic attributes.
17:00 How to create a voice profile for a brand (attributes such as introverted or extroverted must be heard in the brand voice)
18:10 Alexa Skills for a brand: sound and voice can join together
19:10 Understand the North Star of a brand - sonic branding helps examine this
20:00 There is a set of feelings, tonalities, impacts which must be the same for the entire brand. Define the borders. Consistency is key.
20:30 How will conversation between brand and consumers change as voice assistants have greater impact on marketing and consumer touch points?
21:00 “We have said that brands are dying on Alexa. But now there is a journey for brands to get back to more connection in creating, for example, voice avatars.”
21:45 We are in a transition phase regarding branded voice experiences
22:00 Brands who’ve done their homework will succeed in voice - establishing sonic branding is first step
22:30 Opportunity exists to be first brand to define acoustic domain in many sectors: look at FMCG, blue ocean here (with $80 billion voice commerce market in 2023, fast moving consumer goods can take advantage and be first movers with sound branding)
25:00 Music Journalism Insider: News, job listings, and interviews from the world of music journalism. Edited by Todd L. Burns.
Drawing on the findings of the Best Audio Brands Ranking, Michele Arnese discusses with Paul Armstrong in an interview for Forbes what it takes to create a killer sonic brand that delivers and delves into the implications for big and small companies. - These Are the World’s Best Sonic Brands by Paul Armstrong, Forbes
Twitter: @brandingamp
Guest: Claire Winslow, CEO Best Practice Media joins Emily Binder to discuss the evolving definition of creativity in advertising, plus the problems with the ways that we recognize and award women in business.
Claire and Emily discuss whether “advertising as we know it is dead” - prompted by Larry Light’s opinion piece in Forbes. The author writes:
The focus on short-term, disposable viewership is an unfortunate byproduct of the digital age. Sustainable advertising campaigns designed to create and reinforce brand loyalty will be a thing of the past.
The love affair with digital, data and devices has eclipsed the understanding that truly creative, memorable, persuasive and consistent advertising has an important role to play in brand building. Advertising is not a single use wet wipe. The primary role of marketing in general, and advertising in particular, is to create, reinforce and increase brand loyalty. -Larry Light
Audience segmentation and funnels are the new form of creativity
We should not limit the word “creativity” to a traditional definition of coming up with the ideas - it’s more than the ideas because it also involves the technical skill and strategizing of promoting the message, which can be done creatively even if it doesn't resemble Mad Men
The evolution of language: it always changes. Look at Olde English. Old people always dog young people - it’s the pattern of humanity.
Instead of taking slogans from traditional media and putting them on social ads, reverse it and let inexpensive social advertising inform the traditional ads which are more expensive to produce:
Case study from Claire's agency Best Practice Media: Buc-ee's Texas road stop, an amusement park/gas station - how Claire’s team is helping Buc-ee's choose effective copy for their road sign using digital (A/B testing 15 slogan options on Facebook to inform outdoor advertising).
More info: Buc-ee's, the convenience-store chain with a cult following and 'world-famous’ bathrooms
Female Founders Are Changing the World. Please Stop Calling Them 'Mompreneurs' and 'She-E-Os': Enough with the cutesy nicknames - Inc piece by Leigh Buchanan
Social Media Week Austin: smwatx.com
Twitter: @bestpracticesmm
The official Tuesday night event at Project Voice:
Increase the discoverability of your Alexa Skill or Flash Briefing live at #SkillSetters premiere cocktail hour!
Come share your Alexa Skill or Flash Briefing, speed dating style! 50 Alexa Skill creators have the opportunity to give a short elevator pitch for your Skill in 1 minute to each person in the room. After each interaction, guests can scan each other’s QR code badge that opens their Skill on mobile.
You’ll leave with up to 50 new users, new friends, and great ideas! Come network with the #SkillSetters at Project Voice!
Emily Binder (Voice Marketing with Emily Binder)
Daniel Hill (The Instagram Stories)
Amy Summers (The Pitch with Amy Summers)
With featured guest Bradley Metrock, host of Project Voice along with Audiobrain and more great sponsors! Register now, spaces are limited.
The 85+ age group is the fastest growing. There are more people 65+ than under age five. This is a huge missed opportunity for brands not talking to the 50+ cohort.
60 million U.S. adults are between age 50-70: lots of spending power
Peter Pan syndrome in advertising world
Wendi has been in DRTV since 1997 - and it's a lot of selling to women
07:23 We are not data driven only because of the digital age, DR has been data driven since long before there was digital
07:30 It has always been women purchasing on TV and in retail so why aren’t we honing in and speaking to them more?
Marketers are not reaching mature consumers effectively mainly because ad agencies skew so young
9:30 Too many marketers assume people watching CNN are on their way to assisted living
9:50 Programmatic - ad fraud - billions wasted per year
9:55 Voice is the future - voice is natural for all age
10:25 What should marketers do to reach the 50-70 group with voice?
10:55 "I've fallen and I can't get up" - famous ad was original voice technology - necklace to send help
11:53 As people become elders they need voice to contact loved ones and order prescriptions
12:10 Bezos - Amazon pharmacy play - smart
12:20 Voice for assisted living - ideas where older people will understand and use the technology
12:50 Voice is even more intuitive than an iPad, but who is the teacher? This matters.
13:15 50-70 year old market who are thriving - Flash Briefings for this group would be great (Wendi will create one)
13:55 How do you market your Flash Briefing? The challenge here is widespread for all ages.
14:50 As soon as you are able to create content you can drive people to a destination (e.g. Wendi put the first URL instead of an 800 number in a commercial)
15:15 A TV commercial to drive awareness of the 60+ Alexa skill would work - Wendi feels this is necessary to bring mass awareness to voice
16:00 Super Bowl ads about Alexa
16:10 "Go get the Alexa skill" is the new download the app or visit the website
In 2017, the majority, or 63 percent, of workers in advertising, public relations and related services were under 45 years of age, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The median age in the category was 39.2—roughly the same as a decade earlier. (By comparison, the median age in accounting, including tax prep, bookkeeping and payroll services, was 45.)
Broadly speaking, age bias accounts for nearly a quarter of overall complaints against employers.
Here are some great Alexa skills for seniors from Heidi Culbertson's company Ask Marvee:
wendicooper.com - Speaking of Age
https://www.facebook.com/cspottalk
LinkedIn - Wendi Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendicoopercspottalk/
YouTube: Wendi Cooper: https://www.youtube.com/user/cspotrundirect
Katherine Prescott is the Founder and Editor of VoiceBrew, a digital media company dedicated to helping people get the most out of Alexa. We discussed privacy on Amazon Alexa as well as the future of #voicefirst advertising. Which tech company's business model has true alignment with the end user, examining Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook.
Katherine Prescott is the Founder & Editor of VoiceBrew, a top resource for Alexa tips and best uses
Privacy - Amazon Alexa - is she recording?
Amazon Echo Show 5 announcement - new features, especially for greater privacy and user data control
When is Alexa recording vs listening?
How do I control my privacy settings on Alexa?
3.10 This privacy dialogue is healthy - it improves voice assistants for consumers
Echo Show 5 has a new camera shutter and the ability to say “Alexa, delete everything I said today”
4.20 Alexa app is not the focus
5.00 Discoverability is the ultimate challenge
5.05 It’s called the 5 but this refers to the 5.5 inch screen - is same as third gen echo
5.10 Why the Echo Show 5 is such a big deal - compelling land grab for affordable smart display space
6.10 Like the shift from radio to TV, third party Alexa skills will improve dramatically because of multi-modal
10.04 Will smart display pave the way for advertising? Banner even? Less intrusive than voice? Alexa diplsay ads?
10.50 Emily: sponsorship and brand preference will be paid for - that will be the advertising, unlike previous digital like banner ads or PPC
11.30 Katherine: Tech giants are shifting toward privacy as a feature
13.15 Business model and alignment - Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook. Great point from Katherine.
14.02 Google's pitch: we provide free services and collect your data.
14.27 Think of privacy in broader context - we are in the early innings of voice
See this post on Instagram and follow @beetlemoment for #voicefirst news
Echo Show 5: https://www.techradar.com/news/amazon-echo-show-5-everything-you-need-to-know
"Buried in this morning’s Echo Show 5 announcement are a couple of new security features worth highlighting. In addition to the inclusion of a built-in camera shutter on the new smart display are a pair of Echo commands that let users delete voice recordings with an Alexa command." -https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/29/amazon-adds-alexa-delete-what-i-said-today-command/
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