I’m all for advertising in podcasts, but don’t let the advertisers take over. A recent New York Times article reported on a new marketing group trying to create a standard way to get paid messages out via podcast.
What will ads sound like within podcasts? Here’s one’s scary solution:
Susan Bratton, who helped form the Association for Downloadable Media, said her experience as the chief executive of Personal Life Media, which produces audio podcasts on a range of subjects, helped convince her that more industry cooperation was needed to make podcasting a viable business . . .Ms. Bratton, who is an online advertising industry veteran, said she believes she has found at least one good format for running advertisements within podcasts. In addition to placing a sponsor’s advertisements at both ends of a show, she also inserts an advertisement in the middle.
“Say you’re listening,” Ms. Bratton said. “You’ll hear an ad about sponsoring the show from the Omega Institute at the start. Then you get into the show, and halfway through there’s a commercial break, where you have more detail on Omega’s summer programs. Then at the end of the show the final commercial says, ‘Find out more at eomega.org.’ ”
Ms. Bratton added, “I have the ability to not just have a single ad in front and end, but a series of them that’ll tell the story.”
Oh, the horror.
I’ll admit: I’m a big listener of talk radio. For those who aren’t, you should know the incessant commercial breaks sometimes leave the host with only a few seconds to comment and then jump back into a block of ads. NPR manages to get its point across with those quick “brought to you by” messages. Everyone much prefers those.
But I’m a realistic person, and obviously the NPR model isn’t becoming pervasive. For podcasts, I’d wish for a return to the days of yore, when the host took a brief aside to talk about the paid sponsor. This ruffles traditionalists but provides a better flow for the program.
Radio’s conservative “thinker,” Glenn Beck, takes the old-time approach a lot because he says it’s more effective. He’s even recently tried incorporating the asides into his TV show on CNN’s Headline News.
Comments (3)
Interesting! Ads in podcasts certainly can be a double edged sword. As a podcaster myself, I actually get excited by this. I know a lot of really smart and inspired people who can't do the kind of shows they really want because they don't have the time. If we can get context appropriate ads, and the podcaster can start making money, I think we will get more and better podcasts. AND, there is always the threat that people will lose the heart of the podcast when chasing the dollars...
Fortunately, with the attention economy, unless you have something worth hearing, you won't be able to sell ads anyway...
Posted by Mark Michael Lewis | August 5, 2007 3:46 AM
Posted on August 5, 2007 03:46
The Surround Session about which the NY Times wrote is just one of many ad models from which a podcaster can choose.
Marketers like to tell a story. Moving from simple and frankly sometimes repetitive dry voice sponsor ads to a richer experience where the various ad spots can get to more detail can be beneficial to both the marketer and the consumer if the product is contextually relevant.
A podcaster can choose to monetize their content or not and employ a range of ad units from dry voice sponsor, to surround session to integration of the brand into the show, advertorial production...what ever works for the podcaster and the brand.
The Association for Downloadable Media is a platform for the industry to come together to agree on some basic ad units so marketers can scale their campaigns easily and then track and measure the campaign effectiveness and audience metrics. http://www.downloadablemedia.org
Any content producer can choose what ever works for them and their client.
Don't worry, Lucas. You are still in control. ;)
Posted by Susan Bratton | August 6, 2007 12:07 PM
Posted on August 6, 2007 12:07
Thanks for your response, Susan.
Maybe you're right about audio commercials doing better when they're made into 30-second moments of excitement. But I'm not so sure.
And Glenn Beck certainly disagrees.
He says regularly on his radio show that the ads in which he does the talking are more effective than the other ones. Now, maybe that's just a marketing ploy used to sell the ads. I don't know.
I'd be interested to see a study on the two opinions. I'd like to have listeners hear the Beck show and then ask when its over which commercials they remembered. (Beck has both during his broadcasts.)
Posted by Lucas | August 7, 2007 12:37 PM
Posted on August 7, 2007 12:37