Casting the Net

In a 22-minute podcast, Diageo is testing the waters of a new technology that has yet to catch fire as a “must have” tactic in the overall marketing mix.

The podcast, Diageo's first, pulled together segments on its top brands, from Crown Royal whisky to Smirnoff vodka to wines from Sterling Vineyard to Guinness beer. The podcast was themed around the holidays and segments offered a history of the brand, as well as some lesser-known facts (i.e., during the 1940s, BV wines were served at all White House functions).

“It's a great opportunity for us to get our entire portfolio in front of consumers,” says Gary Galanis, Diageo's VP-corporate relations, who played the part of a bartender in the podcast. “[We] tell a much fuller story about holiday entertaining than if we had one particular brand or one particular category.”

Last year, 4.8 million people downloaded a podcast, compared to 820,000 in 2004. By 2010, the podcast audience is expected to reach 45 million users, a conservative estimate that could go as high as 75 million, according to a study by Bridge Ratings, a provider of radio audience measurement.

But whether or not podcasting catches on as a truly successful advertising medium is yet to be decided. Brands can sponsor podcasts or make their own, and while interest is certainly growing, the challenges, as well as the benefits, abound.

Pricing can be a flat rate, incorporated into a larger buy or based on CPM or number of downloads. Metrics and benchmarks are limited, with success often based on month-to-month growth of the number of downloads. Lead generation techniques are not widely available and it can be difficult to tie podcasts to incremental sales. And the FCC is deciding whether to regulate pod casts.

One enormous benefit is the ability to reach a highly targeted audience that can download audio and video content and listen to it when and where they like, or right there online if they so choose.

“As in TV or print or other mediums, where some might want to hear your message and some might not, [podcasts] are one of the most highly targeted forms of communication in the marketplace at this time,” says Erik Sjogren, senior brand manager for Dixie, a Georgia-Pacific brand.

In March, Dixie is set to launch its first sponsorship of a podcast in a full-year deal with Mommycast.com, a weekly internet radio show created by two moms, Gretchen and Paige. The site gets about 600,000 downloads per month.

The deal includes exclusive Dixie branding on the site's weekly podcast — that will lead in and exit with copy about Dixie products — as well as on the site itself. In addition, four 20-25 minute broadcasts will be developed around content suggested by Dixie, such as how Dixie can help with quick meal preparation and clean up.

Dixie plans to integrate the sponsorship across many platforms including TV, print and public relations.

Some brands shy away from partnering with existing podcasts because of a lack of control over content and are making their own.

“The ability to control what is said about brands is getting harder and harder,” says John Feldman, a partner at Reed Smith LLP. “People have to have a plan to help control what's out there.”

Diageo had full control of its podcast, created in house and hosted by Susan Kelleher, an independent broadcast consultant, along with Guy Smith, Diageo's executive VP-corporate relations. The two were filmed seated at the bar on the 7th floor in the company's Norwalk, CT, headquarters, with Galanis tending bar in the background. The podcast is peppered with interviews and other images taken by Diageo on location at The Night Club and Bar Show, held last March in LasVegas. Other employees also appear during the podcast, including Ivan Menezes, the president and CEO of Diageo North America PLC.

Each segment includes facts and lore about the particular brand. For example, during the segment on Bailey's Irish Cream, Kelleher says, “Irish lore has it that four out of every five cows in Ireland work for Bailey's Irish Cream — after all, it is the world's sixth biggest spirits brand.” Smith adds that it's an ingredient in more than 500 drink recipes and then cuts to a segment filmed at the show where “resident expert” Peter O'Connor offers up more facts about Bailey's. Images of the product are shown and a voice says, “For a sophisticated after dinner drink, try the Bailey's Alpine.” A recipe appears and the directions are read on how to make the hot coffee drink, mixed with Baileys, Rumple Minze and hot coffee.

Plans called for incorporating scenes from the podcast into TV spots for cable and providing links online. The format of the podcast is fluid and Diago plans to change and update it based on upcoming holidays and seasons. Diageo is making plans to use the content across a number of marketing platforms.

The introduction of the iPod nano, which allows for the display of video content, has upped the podcast ante. The iPod nano made the Business Week “Best of 2005” best products list and podcasting made the best ideas list.

Volvo, which has been having success sponsoring an audio podcast it helped develop in a partnership with Autoblog.com, this month debuts video podcasts so images of its vehicles can be incorporated with the content.

“We view podcasting right now as a niche oriented medium, but one we think has huge potential,” says John Neu, manager of CRM and e-business for Volvo Cars North America. “It's really neat when someone is actually knocking at your door for something, and that's exactly what these consumers are doing.”

The site claims to “obsessively” cover the auto industry (in fact, the CEO of General Motors keeps a blog there) and its demographics are a perfect match with Volvo's high household income and early adopters, says Anna Papadopoulos, the interactive media director at EuroRSCG 4D in New York, which handles the sponsorship.

“[Autoblog.com is] the go to place if you were going to buy a car,” she says. “It is an audience that is small, but a very important audience that we wanted to speak to.”

She says Volvo and Autoblog decided to create an Internet radio show around the site's hundreds of blogs that would incorporate, in a somewhat loose fashion, content about Volvo vehicles. The podcasts are promoted on the home page with a link to the downloadable version. The first monthly podcast that ran in February 2005 drew 40,000 downloads and within six months 120,000 podcasts had been downloaded. Banner ads at the site support the podcasts.

“If you create something that is really good, people will stay with it,” says Dave Goodman, president of marketing for Infinity Radio.

The Pod People

No, they aren't alien life forms from a 1950s B-movie. But they are multiplying rapidly, taking over positions of influence, perhaps even in your very own home town. You may be one of them…

Over 4.8 million people downloaded a podcast from a radio station or other source in 2005, compared to just 820,000 in 2004, according to Bridge Ratings, which measures radio audiences. By 2010, podcasts may reach 45 million users. Other findings include:

• 20% of those who download podcasts do so weekly. This group downloads an average six podcasts per week.
• Only 20% of this group currently listen on MP3 players.
• ‘Innovators’ pull the change in technology use and comprise 2.3% of the overall population.
• ‘Early adopters’ comprise another 13.5% of the population; these opinion leaders try out new ideas and technology, but carefully.
• The skeptical ‘Late majority’ are 34% of the population.
• ‘Laggards,’ at 16% of the population, are traditionalists who tend to be the last to adopt a technological innovation.
  — PO