Insider Intelligence: The 411 on Podcasts

Dec. 15, 2017
No matter your interest, you can find something both informative and entertaining for your ride home

I spend a lot of time in my car; in fact, some days it is literally hours between my commute and all the other adventures that life throws my way with a young family in tow. Anyone who knows me well has heard me say on more than one occasion, “I was listening to this podcast about (insert random topic here).”

From a marketer’s perspective, podcasts have seen a massive surge in popularity in the last year despite having been around for more than a decade. Simple improvements in mobility and connectivity have made it possible for phones to seamlessly connect to cars and stream content from the internet directly to the ears of commuters like me. Other research points to “screen exhaustion” as a reason for the surge.

While websites and videos are exciting, we have started experiencing a kind of fatigue when scrolling through websites, reading words and watching screen images for hours a day. Podcasts represent an opportunity both to marketers like me, who can leverage human voice and fully engage another of the five senses to reach an audience, and to any media consumer who just needs a break from the today’s predominately digital media outlets.

 I have nearly 20 podcasts in my regular rotation, ranging in topics from news to comedy to true crime. It may sound excessive, but the truth is, podcasts allow me to cover a lot of ground during all the time I am in the driver’s seat each day. They have become one of the definitive sources for my news, entertainment and personal development; in fact, they have become such a force in my personal media consumption that I am often surprised to hear when people have never listened to a single podcast or simply do not know how to find them.

If you are one of those people, here are a few of my personal favorites that keep my entrepreneurial spirit alive and my creative meter running that you may find worthy of checking out for yourself.

How I Built This: A podcast about the entrepreneurs and innovators behind some of the most recognized companies and brands in the world. With interviews led by NPR great Guy Raz, guests tell the stories about the rise of their brands and all the failures, big wins and lessons learned along the way. While I am not an entrepreneur in the traditional sense, I certainly have a very strong entrepreneurial spirit and this podcast feeds that spirit and helps me consider ways to sharpen my own management style. One of my personal favorites was episode with Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia clothing, whose company is still privately owned, eco-conscious, defies the rules of traditional corporate constitution and is still valued at well more than one billion dollars. To all the entrepreneurs or those with such a tendency, this one is for you.

99% Invisible: Did you know that New York City is in the midst of an ecological construction project brought about by Hurricane Sandy that relies on reviving the long-gone oyster population off the coast? 99% Invisible breaks down stories about all the things around us that we often do not notice or even think about, such as the “Living Breakwaters” project that will enable NYC to build an artificial breakwater to protect the coast from the force of waves in the future by rebuilding the oyster population in the waters off the coast. This podcast reminds me that behind every structure, product, logo and sound there is a story – and often it is not the one you think you know.

Under the Influence: Hands down my favorite podcast about marketing. It gives listeners the inside scoop on modern marketing and advertising initiatives and provides historical context for how marketing has shifted to focus on audience influence vs. the previous approach of bully persuasion. Trust me when I tell you that the two-part series on gender marketing will turn everything you think you know about Harley Davidson, Barbie and even Wing Chun Kung Fu on its head. 

Podcasts are here to stay and whether you are looking for news or entertainment, it is time to dip your toe in the podcast waters if you haven’t already. They are available on your phone via the Podcasts app on iOS or via Stitcher, iHeartRadio and many others – just search your favorite terms and you are on your way.

Kim Garcia is Director of Marketing for PSA Security Network. To request more info about PSA, visit www.securityinfowatch.com/10214742