Launching NatWest's New Branded Podcast

With developments in technology moving so fast, it's important to take stock of the new issues that change inevitability bring - before it’s too late. We worked with NatWest to produce their brand new podcast series, Technically Speaking, which does precisely that.

Each episode, Digital Strategist, Wincie Wong and Tech Engineer, Burcu Karabork, tackle issues sparked by tech - covering questions around ethics, education and elitism. Across the four episodes, listeners can expect high-stakes discussions, broken down by expert guests told in a refreshingly digestible format.

Going straight in at the deep end, the first episode asks: is it profitable to be ethical?

The global tech industry is worth trillions of dollars and, as it continues to grow, there is little optimism as to whether for-profit companies will self-regulate in the wake of a series of high-profile scandals at the likes of Google, Facebook, and Uber.

Joined by guests from Oxford’s Digital Ethics Lab and Credit Kudos, a company leading the open banking charge, the hosts will explore if there is a business case for ethics.

Like what you hear? Get in touch to talk about how podcasting can work for your business - jake@messageheard.com.

Why Sound Quality in Essential for Making a Successful Podcast

A new study shows poor audio quality effects enjoyment and credibility.

Videos spliced together with the images and audio ever-so-slightly out of sync. Echoey, hard to decipher podcasts. Grainy pictures. We all know bad quality content is a turn-off for audiences, but a recent study shows that in the case of poor audio quality, it doesn’t just affect the audiences enjoyment, it also lowers your personal credibility and that of your brand.

In a study conducted by scientists from the University of Southern California and Australian National University, two versions of an NPR podcast were shared with participants - one which sounded perfect and the other distorted to sound bad. They found that poor sound quality not only negatively impacted the ease with which the content was understood but also greatly diminished the perceived reliability of the source itself. 

The key takeaway for the researchers? “Next time you are recorded, make sure you have good sound quality,” they wrote “Your credibility depends on it.”

So, what does this mean for podcast production? What you’re saying might be really interesting and well-researched - but if the sound quality is bad, it will be detrimental to both your personal credibility and that of your brand.

We wanted to dig a bit deeper into why this can be such a critical factor, so here are three key reasons to prioritise sound quality from the very beginning of your podcasting journey:

1. No distractions for your audience - your listeners need to focus on your message, rather than trying to work out what that annoying noise is in the background… Is that an air conditioner I can hear? Are those emails pinging in? Are these people being held against their will in a lead-lined cellar….?

2. Effective sound design - music beds, sound effects and jingles need to be purposeful and impactful rather than adding sonic confusion. A recent episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour is a good example of this - it contrasted recordings taken in Madame Tussauds with the voice over from the studio to create a purposefully textured recording. 

3. User reviews - the tricky thing about audio quality is you don’t always notice it when it’s there but you sure do notice when it’s missing. User reviews can often reveal this all too late - which is why you need to be thinking about sound quality before you even go into production and especially before you start to ship episodes. In the anonymity of the internet, your listeners will not be forgiving. 

If you’re interested in understanding a bit more about what good audio quality actually sounds like, check out this mini-podcast. And, if you want to talk about improving the credibility of your audio content, get in touch jake@messageheard.com. 

Branded Podcasts: 3 Ways To Harness The Power of Pods

In our last two articles, we explored the power of podcasting and the most common mistakes companies make. Today, we lay out the three key ways organisations can utilise podcasts: brand and audience building, targeted sales, internal engagement.  

If you’re on the go, listen to an audio version of the article here:

Whoever you’re looking to engage, podcasts offer an answer. It’s a versatile medium with innate qualities which can be easily adapted to fulfill different organisational goals.

Podcasts create space for storytelling - which lends itself perfectly to achieving marketing objectives around brand and audience building. Remember: they are a property for you to build on.

Podcasts can also be used in a more targeted way: snackable (i.e. short) podcasts make a persuasive sales tool, perfect for bringing exclusive thought-leadership to the ears of those hard to reach budget-holders.

And, increasingly, large or highly distributed organisations are using podcasting to revitalise corporate communications - allowing them to engage with their employees in a direct, personal way.

Building Brand and Audience

Producing your own podcast is an unparalleled opportunity for long-term audience development and brand building. As we explored in the previous articles, more and more big name brands, from across industries, have adopted this tool: McDonalds, Dell, Tinder, General Electric, eBay, LinkedIn, the list goes on.

And it’s not hard to see why - the 2019 Infinite Dial Report showed 70% of listeners don’t do any other activity whilst listening to a podcast. That undivided attention is hard to come by in our distracted world.

As a medium, audio also offers a personal connection between the narrator and the audience - and a direct line to people who have proactively engaged with the content. As Niharika Shah, head of brand marketing and advertising at Prudential put it, “Podcasts are a marketer’s dream when it comes to getting people’s undivided attention… It lends itself well to storytelling, and consumer adoption has been at high levels.” By adopting an advertorial style and working with professional journalists and producers, brands are able to create the personal, emotive style of content that has been proven to hook listeners.

Fast Company even called branded podcasts “the ads people want to listen too”. When you create the content rather than just sponsor it, you become the convener of the conversations happening around your business and in your industry. Listeners have also reported enjoying the absence of ad breaks in branded content which brought a particularly immersive listening experience.

Targeting High Value Sales

In B2B industries the challenge is getting the right people - the budget-holders and decision-makers - to engage with your ideas. These are traditionally some of the hardest people to reach, but podcasting offers an alternative avenue to traditional marketing materials such as white papers and webinars. According to Adobe's vice-president of experience marketing, the podcast version of their white papers receive 6 x the number of downloads compared to the PDF - and cost 10-15% of one of their videos.

At Message Heard, we’ve worked with companies to create podcasts intended to be listened to by only 20 people - the right 20 people - getting the right ideas into the right ears and thus driving high-value sales.

And remember, podcasts reach busy people, who are on the go, in a way that video and written content can’t: 64% of podcast consumers listen in their car, 49% whilst walking, 37% whilst at work and 37% on public transport. Audio consumption fits easily in our modern lives, rather than adding another thing to the to-do list.

Building Internal Engagement

Podcasts are also a promising new tool for companies looking to create a strong culture and reinvigorate their internal communications. According to the Wall Street Journal, one in roughly 30 companies in the S&P 500 produce a podcast that targets either their employees or external audiences, or a combination of the two.

“The facts told us every time we sent an email or a newsletter, no matter how wacky… our colleagues didn’t look at them...”, our client at a global tech services firm told us. “One of our objectives [for our podcasts] was around creating conversations that our colleagues can feel they are part of rather than just being talked at.”

So, what was the feedback from their series, you might be wondering? “A lot of people feel like they are part of the conversation. And when we’ve gone and asked if this is a medium that enriches our communication, the overwhelming response has been yes.”

This is the final instalment of our blog series looking at the power of podcasts for brands and business. You can read parts one and two here.

If you have any questions or are looking for production help please reach out to jake@message-heard.com.

Benched - Cat Hulbert on Gambling

From getting her first job in a Las Vegas casino to earning her place in an elite card counting gang, Cat Hulbert faced chauvinism at every turn during her professional gambling career. Overcoming the odds, she has now been called, the ‘best female gambler on earth’. This week on Benched, we found out how she broke the glass ceiling in this notoriously male-dominated arena.

Cat started her career as a dealer behind the table, rather than playing at it - which is where she first noticed a ‘strategy’ being used behind some of the most successful blackjack players. As she dealt, she tried to figure out what it was they were doing. After finally asking one of the players, she was introduced to card counting.

She went on to successfully master the skills herself, become a top blackjack player and join notorious card counting gang, The Czechoslovakians. But it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. It was originally thought that having a woman in the gang would be so unexpected that she would go under the radar, and the whole group would reap the rewards. The reality was very different, “No woman bet up to the stakes I did. It drew a lot of attention,” says Cat” As a result, she was arrested, back-roomed and barred from casinos many times - even making it into the notorious Griffith Book.

After blackjack, she went on to play poker at a similarly high-level, but the transition wasn’t easy. Not only did she have to master new tactics, but she also had to learn to keep her own emotions in check noting that, “Poker has an emotional quality that almost occupies 50-60% of the game … And because I’m bipolar, I’ve always fought with that.”

Today, retired from the professional game after a stint player virtual poker, she tells us the story of how she worked her way up to the top and what she makes of her life’s work looking back. Listen to Benched to hear the full story.

The Most Common Branded Podcast Mistakes

If you’re on the go, listen to an audio version of the article here:

Branded podcast are powerful but people are getting it wrong. Here’s how.

So, you want to make a podcast? That’s great. All you need is a microphone, an echoey meeting room and a wannabe host with a motor-mouth.

Well, not quite….

I’ll rephrase the question - do you want to make podcasts that enhance your brand?

There is a reason why some of the most successful branded podcasts we spoke about last week - like McDonald’s, General Electric, eBay and Tinder - worked with professional production houses who have their own editorial podcasting credentials. It’s because, put plainly, podcasting is not as easy as it sounds.

The key symptoms of a brand that has indulged in brand-damaging audio are:

1. You don’t have a strategy or even a good reason to have a podcast;

2. There’s no story arc, and often no story at all;

3. It just sounds bad - tinny audio, grating voices, over-the-top production or no production whatsoever...

Any single one of these issues can be brand-damaging and, together, they’re an embarrassment. So, what should you do differently? Let’s break down the issues.

1. You haven’t got a strategy or even a good reason to have a podcast

In order to be successful, your podcast needs to be considered within the context of their wider marketing and communication strategy, not as a random, standalone item (or because someone important fancies having one).

Podcasts have unique qualities - it is an intimate medium, which lends itself to sustained relationships with the audience. It also reaches audiences where they can increasingly be found - on the go, and on their phones.

Establishing how, and why, to deploy these characteristics is the first step to creating a successful audio marketing strategy. One of our clients told us that they turned to podcasts when their data began to show their employees were no longer engaging with emails and newsletters; “It makes us think harder about how we synthesise what we want to say as we can’t hide behind powerpoint slides or videos.” (Global Tech Services Firm).

Three key Qs to ask yourself:

1. Why do you need another communication tool?

2. What do you want to achieve by having a podcast?

3. How can you own the conversation better than anyone else?

2. There’s no story arc, and often, no story at all

Before you begin, you need to work out what you are trying to say. Podcasts offer you so many different formats and styles by which to tell your story, it’s important to find one that matches the strategy behind your show.

The U.S. supermarket Trader Joe’s - a company which famously avoids traditional marketing and advertising - reveal the hidden stories behind their brand. In a light-hearted, personable manner, they detail how they source food from around the world and the lengths they go to check the quality of their produce. Alternatively, The Home Depot podcast targets their own employees; profiling execs who started out on the shop floor to showcase their “special sauce” - their culture.

With a clear story arc, your podcast can take ownership of stories and bring your listeners, whether internal or external, on a journey with you. Moreover, having a thorough and thoughtful approach will stop you from putting people behind the mic just to keep them happy.

Three key Qs to ask yourself:  

1. What stories do you want to tell?

2. What format would you like them to be in (i.e. in studio, on location, a mixture)?

3. How would you like your episodes to sound? (i.e. business professional, vibrant and young, etc)

3. It sounds bad

Sound quality is vital for engaging audiences. It’s not only important to use the best equipment, but you also need to work with producers who have a professional understanding of recording, editing, mixing and mastering. Having a mic - or even your own studio - is not enough.

Then there are all the other audible elements to consider that help bring your stories to life such as sound beds and scoring, archive clips, and jingles.

To help you hear what good sounds like, check out this side by side comparison.

Now - perhaps the most controversial of all, is selecting the right voices for your podcast. There are sensitive factors that shape how the voices of any podcast get chosen, but you can’t let factors such as internal politics and the fragile egos of key stakeholders compromise the quality.

And remember, shows don’t have to be two talking heads. Some of the most successful podcasts uses voices from outside the brand - demonstrating the brands’ convening power by bringing together different perspectives.

Three key Qs to ask yourself:  

1. Do you have the right equipment, acoustics and know-how to record great audio?

2. What tone do you want your podcast to have?

3. Do you have the right voices for your show?

Next week, In our final instalment of this article series, we will explore three different forms of engagement that podcasting can drive, and how your customers can harness the power of pods.

If you have any questions or are looking for production help please reach out to jake@message-heard.com.

We’re also holding an event to help you develop your ideas. If you’re London based, please come along.

5 Podcasts That Go Beyond The Headlines

Podcasts for when you want to take a deeper look at the stories passing through the news cycle. 

The news cycle can get a bit overwhelming. Brexit, Trump, we’re destroying the planet and then Brexit and Trump again, just in case we forgot about them…

It’s a lot to take in - and no-one can blame you if you just want to switch off sometimes. There is a way to get around it, though. Podcasts that keep you in the know and do so in an entertaining, and often deeper, way.

Here are five that I love and would recommend to anyone. Some of them talk about current events and others go back and dissect things that have already happened. They all have one thing in common – they go beyond the headlines and give you a lot more of the detail and backstory that you’d never get in traditional news.

1. Undone

This 7-episode series by Gimlet went back through big events and headlines in history and looked at what really happened beyond what was reported at the time. While the stories are US-centric, all of them are fascinating no matter where you’re from.

2. Slow Burn

This show from Slate is a serialised political documentary. It is gripping in a way that makes you want to instantly go into politics and be part of all the shady goings on (or maybe that’s just me... ). So far, it has only focused on American politics but there are big events that you will definitely want to find out more about. Season 1 went deep into Watergate and the second talks all about Bill Clinton’s sexual misconduct scandals. Yes, that’s scandals plural.

 3. This American Life – ep. 669 ‘Scrambling to get off the ice’

This American Life have always produced political stories, but in recent years, in the hands of producer Zoe Chace, their political reporting has reached a new level. She has inside access to many Republicans and Democrats and she is able to pull back the curtain on dull backroom processes and machinations in a way that makes them actually interesting - and funny. Episode 669 features, amongst other stories, one about the Democrats’ newfound political power and how they’re learning to use it again.

4. Criminal – Hostage

There are so many true crime podcasts - too many some might say. Criminal is different, though. The stories focus on the human aspect and are never sensationalised. The show doesn’t linger on the obvious and goes a step further to explore new and surprising sides to the stories. The episode ‘Hostage’ does that with the crime that inspired the term ‘Stockholm syndrome’ and features the people who were actually people involved.

5. Today in Focus

What The Guardian’s daily news podcast does so well is that it doesn’t give you the daily news – you can read the newspaper for that. Today in Focus dissects two topics each day that you may have missed or which need a closer look. Through its sound design and Anushka Asthana’s great voice and style, you find yourselves being interested in stories you’d never choose to read in the newspaper.

…Oh, and one more. If you’re a fan of these shows, we would love to hear what you think of Undiscovered - our podcast which tells stories that haven’t received much attention in mainstream news (but that definitely deserved it). In season one, we did a deep dive into the human experiments conducted by the Japanese army in WW2, explored all sides of the assisted dying debate and more. Give it a listen!

Benched - Liam Davis on Homosexuality and Football

Football had silently ignored homosexuality - and homophobia - for decades. Then in 1990, Justin Fashanu came out. But after facing years of abuse on and off the pitch, Fashanu committed suicide in 1998.

After that, there was silence again until 2013 when, then Leeds United player, Robbie Rogers, came out as gay and retired from professional football. Robbie’s coming out started an international discussion about the toxic environment football has created for gay players.

After him, two more footballers who played in England came out. In January 2014, the former Aston Villa, West Ham and Everton player, Thomas Hitzlsperger, came out in an interview shortly after he retired from the professional game. Shortly afterward, Liam Davis, a semi-professional for Cleethorpes Town FC, was outed by his local newspaper based on a series of supportive tweets he sent about Hitzlsperger.

With the media storm that surrounded these men - teams, fans and other players were presented with an opportunity to reckon with the reality of gay players and address homophobic culture on the pitch and in the stands. However, it’s been five years since, and no other male players in England have come out, and the conversation that Justin Fashanu and Robbie Rogers has started faded away once again.

Today on Benched, we will reopen that conversation with our guest, Liam Davis, who was for a time England’s only active out player. He is interviewed by guest host and queer journalist Jasmine Andersson. Listen now.

Pods are Powerful: Why Your Company Needs a Branded Podcasts

If you’re on the go, listen to an audio version of the article here:

In our oversubscribed, over-saturated, on-demand world, getting peoples’ attention has never been more challenging.

As the cut through of written content has declined, brands have increasingly turned to video. Video is great, however it is limited in scope, reach and can prove to be quite costly. For these reasons - and others we will explore - we’re seeing more brands embrace podcasts. And, thanks in part to the wider podcasting boom, there is a growing listening audience ready and waiting to embrace their content.

Increasingly, brands are recognising the value of professionally produced, editorial-style podcasts - using them as effective marketing mechanisms to enrich their brand and build their audiences, sophisticated sales tools for high value customers, or as beguiling instruments for employee engagement.

Since 2016, market giants such as eBay, Mastercard, McDonalds, MailChimp, General Electric and Netflix have all invested in producing their own podcasts. They have grown significant listenership, and reached the top of the podcast charts by blurring the lines between editorial and advertorial. Dell Technologies podcast, Trailblazers with Walter Isaacson, reached 1 million downloads in six months, with 50,000 subscribers awaiting new episodes.

Why branded podcasts work

In our engagement economy, it’s not hard to see why brands are turning to podcasts. 80% of all podcast episodes are listened to in their entirety, which is arguably the best consumption rate of any digital medium.

Additionally, research from Acast shows 76% of UK listeners have followed up on an ad or sponsor’s message that they heard on a podcast. These extraordinary rates of engagement speak to the intimate quality of audio content - where you have an unprecedented opportunity to speak directly and personally to an attentive, curious audience.

With 18.7% of young adults listening to podcasts on a weekly basis, there is also a unique opportunity for brands to tap into the cultural zeitgeist. The most successful shows aren’t vintage content marketing repackaged as an MP3 - they are editorial, human-centered stories that give intimate insight into your brand. As the Senior Vice President of Corporate Relations at McDonald’s put it “If you want to be a beloved brand, you need to start with what people love.”

Put simply, podcasting is a golden opportunity for brands to convene and take ownership of the most interesting stories and conversations happening in their industry.

McDonald’s cashed in on a pop culture phenomenon, fuelling the cult following of their discontinued Szechuan sauce - all told through true-crime style reporting. eBay told stories that appealed to small businesses, and in so doing made this target audience aware of a whole range of business tools that they offered. Meanwhile, General Electric went completely off-piste and made a fictional science-fiction podcast which happens to be one of the most successful branded podcasts ever, with more than 8 million downloads since its release.

The impact of podcasts for ‘I Can Be’

By adopting a conversational style, cutting out corporate-speak and opting for content that starts conversations rather than push-sells in an overt manner, you can get your message across to a targeted audience which is ready and willing to listen.

At Message Heard, we’ve worked with clients to deliver advertorial content for brands like Jungle Creations and I Can Be, an educational charity. Lamorna Byford, Project Director at I Can Be, shares the value of podcasts as a marketing tool: ‘The podcast brings to life the ethos of I Can Be in that it shows the energy and enthusiasm that each of our sessions have. It can be hard to communicate that in a photo or an email.

This is the first of a three part series on The Power of Pods. Keep an eye out for our next post about the most common audio content mistakes that companies make (other than not having a podcast at all!) - and three different forms of engagement that podcasting can drive.

If you’re interested in learning more we are also hosting an event in London, sign up here.

Benched - Kelly Naqi on the legend of Ali Dia

This week on Benched, we dig into what’s been called the biggest scam in British Premier League’s history - the swift rise, and even swifter fall, of Ali Dia.

The popular legend goes a bit like this: in 1996, Southampton’s manager, Graeme Souness, received a phone call from someone claiming to be footballing superstar George Weah recommending the signing of his cousin, Ali Dia.

After being subbed in on a game against Leeds, Dia lived out the fantasy of millions by playing Premiership football, albeit not very well, for 43 minutes - before vanishing for decades.

In today’s episode of Benched, guest host Robbie Knox (Soccer AM) gets the story from Kelly Naqi, the journalist responsible for finally tracking Dia down twenty years after his Southampton debut (...and farewell).

Naqi is quick to point out it’s still not clear if this infamous, chant-inspiring event was a scam - or something much more innocent. She details how she finally found him due to an investigation that took her all the way to Sudan, only to end up back in London. Listen to the whole episode here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey There, Sports Fans?

9 of the Best *Sport-Adjacent* Podcasts

I love anything to do with American Football. Except watching actual American Football.

Friday Night Lights, Remember The Titans, Varsity Blues, Friday Night Lights, The Blindside, The Longest Yard, Friday Night Lights, Last Chance U  -  I can't get enough.

But, how many games have I actually sat through? Well…

You simply don't have to be a fan of the sport to be captured by the magic of it. In my case, the passion, the emotion, the way the game reflects and refracts the wider culture captured my imagination in a way I have never been able to shake.

So naturally, when I started listening to podcasts - I started looking for these types of *sport-adjacent* human-interest stories.

Whilst, there are a lot of podcasts out there for fans - for people who want to obsess over stats and rehash the latest fixture - those that focus on the human stories are harder to come by.

Screw the superstars - I want to hear about the underdogs, grafters and chancers. If that's what you're about too, here are 11 of my favourites:

1. Gladiator

An intimate investigation that goes beyond true crime tropes to comment on the systemic problems ingrained, from high-school to professional level, in the business and culture of American Football.

Football star Aaron Hernandez went from the bright lights of the Super Bowl to a convicted murderer in a few years. The Boston Globe's Spotlight Team, best known for its investigation of the sexual abuse scandal inside the Catholic Church, takes a hard look at the crisis facing football through the lens of Aaron Hernandez's life and terrible crimes.Did a brain badly damaged by football contribute to Hernandez's violent behavior?

2. 30 for 30  —  Bikram 

A six-part investigation into the culty figure behind an internationally popular yoga movement. Think Wild Wild Country but with more stretching.

In the early 1970s, a young Indian yogi named Bikram Choudhury used his Hollywood connections to launch a hot yoga empire. America's fitness obsession brought the Speedo-clad and Rolex-wearing guru wealth and fame. But the success of his yoga revolution allowed him to hide increasingly dark behavior.

3. The Season

You can't help get behind the underdogs, a college team on a 21-game losing streak, in this fly on the wall documentary from 2015.

The Season is a new weekly podcast from WNYC that will follow Columbia University's football team, the Lions, over their ten-game season. It's been two years since the Lions had a win. That's a 21-game losing streak.

4. Backstory  — Turf War

The American History Guys take us back through the origin and growth of College Sports. A very pertinent listen in the wake of the latest admissions scandal.

On this episode, Brian, Peter, and Ed unpack the origins of college sports and the ways universities originally justified athletics on campus. From the first collegiate PHYS ED program at Amherst College to the little-known story about the integration of the University of Alabama's football team - the hosts discover why college sports even exist in the first place.Learn more about your ad choices.

5. Against The Rules — Ref, You Suck!

Micheal Lewis (Moneyball, The Blind Side) kicks off a season-long exploration into the decline of referees in American life by taking listeners backstage at the American Basketball League replay center.

Rage at referees is all the rage in professional sports. Michael Lewis visits a replay center that's trying to do the impossible: adjudicate fairness.

6. On The Shoulders of Giants  —  Throughline

Another historical take, but this time using past examples of protest by black sportspeople as context by which to see the current activism of NFL players like Colin Kaepernick.

When Colin Kaepernick stopped standing for the national anthem at NFL games it sparked a nationwide conversation about patriotism and police brutality. Black athletes using their platform to protest injustice has long been a tradition in American history.

7. Desert Island Discs  —  David Beckham

A British footballing legend relives some of his greatest sporting moments, and shows us his softer side, in the 75th-anniversary edition of this BBC radio staple.

David Beckham is Kirsty Young's guest as Desert Island Discs celebrates its 75th Anniversary. As a professional footballer he's the only Englishman to win the league titles in England, Spain, the US and France.

8. This American Life  —  Those Who Can't Play

This short piece, only 6 minutes long, tells the story of an announcer who can bring audiences to tears with his commentary of football games. The twist: he's making the games up.

Listen here

9. Radiolab  —  American Football

A look at American football past and future. The conflict many Americans feel about reconciling their love of the game with its increasingly well evidenced health risks is captured perfectly by a football fanatic mother and her no-so-interested son.

Any more recommendations? Let me know, I'm always on the hunt for new listens - emily@messageheard.com

P.S. A quiet plug for our own sort-of-sports show, Benched. If you're a fan of the shows above - we’d love to know what you think 💖