Targeted podcasts that focus on specific niche audiences appeal to advertisers, and the Podfather himself will launch an ad network to bring marketers together with podcasters.
His concept drew nearly $10 million from the two biggest names in Silicon Valley venture capitalism: Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The development of podcast advertising could be worth as much as $2 billion in three to five years, the report said.
Podcasting has grown from grass roots toddler to mainstream adolescent, and now appears ready to put on a suit, step into the corner office, and light up a victory cigar. Business Week reported that the money flowing into podcasting has begun seeking a way back to the investors and industry powers, and the podcasters too.
The podcast world has placed Clear Channel alongside such independent creations at the Dawn and Drew Show. The desire to monetize anything with an audience has brought out sponsorships, at first. Ads from Volvo have been part of Autoblog’s monthy podcast, the article cited as an example; the deal paid $60,000 to sponsor the podcast and advertise on the Autoblog site.
As players like Yahoo and AOL, well-experienced in online advertising, step into the world of organizing podcasts, they will likely try to accomplish what Curry wants to start now, before they or Google dominate the market.
Search engines and their associated topics figure in some podcasts, even as they play into the future of podcast ads. Pandia noted Danny Sullivan’s Daily SearchCast at Search Engine Watch and SEO Rockstars as a couple of podcasts dedicated to the search engine audience.
Some advertisers have even begun to podcast themselves. In another article, Business Week recounts how Whirlpool got into podcasting at the urging of a marketing executive working for the company:
That Tuesday, (Audrey) Reed-Granger marched into her boss’s office armed with a proposal. Whirlpool should do podcasts, she argued, but the shows shouldn’t push washers, dryers, or any other product. Instead, they should feature interviews with real people — moms balancing work and family, dads staying home to raise kids. “There was a pause,” says Reed-Granger, who is director of consumer insight at Whirlpool Brand. “I said: ‘Think about who uses our products. It’s families.’ We’re all about helping them in their lives. This is about connecting.” She got the green light that afternoon.
Pet food maker Purina, publisher Simon & Schuster, and Virgin Airlines have joined the podcasting realm. In Purina’s case, it switched from running a call-in radio show featuring veterinarians to a podcast.
“Issue-oriented marketing will have a lot more success,” respected analyst Charlene Li of Forrester Research said in the story. “I don’t know if I want to listen on a regular basis to what a company has to say about its products.”
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
