The 360 View

Podcasting: The Pod Has Landed

Winter 2005

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Ralston360Executive Summary

3 6 0 V I E W I V : P O D C A S T I N G

A new generation of “Pod People” has landed. And unlike the

screeching zombies of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, these

modern-day Podsters are not content to take over bodies at

the behest of the mother ship. Oh no. These Pod People,

freshly hatched from the Internet, want to capture that rarest

of modern treasures: content they want, when they want it.

They’re poised to topple the bastions of traditional media with

nothing more than a pair of iPod ear-buds and a single bone-

chilling request: “Take me to your Podcast.”

Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating. A little. But something

exciting is going on in the communications industry. You

guessed it: Podcasting.

I’ve seen Internet ideas sweep the virtual landscape before,

but Podcasting is moving across the online marketing terrain

with exceptional velocity. In October 2004, there were 24 hit

results on Google for the word “Podcast.” Today, it’s 83 million.

Consider “Pod Climber” and “Formula Pod,” two audio

Podcasts about rock climbing and Formula 1 racing. Run out of

a simple recording studio in Bend, Oregon, Pod Climber has a

monthly audience of 54,000 listeners. To put this audience

number in perspective, consider that the monthly circulation

of Climbing Magazine, the industry leader, is 34,000. Climbing

Magazine is 34 years old. “Pod Climber” is only seven months

old. Yeah. Wow.

So what is Podcasting and why should you care? Glad you asked.

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“Podcasting.” In the dictionary, right next to “zowie.”

Podcasting is a means of distributing audio programs via the

Internet. Users subscribe to a number of programs, and then

listen to the material at a time that they choose.

Translation: Podcasts are audio shows of various lengths that

are sent directly to your computer via syndication.

Like a newspaper subscription delivered daily to your lawn,

Podcasts are delivered right to your computer. You don’t have to

remember to visit specific websites to get updates, giving you

time to do other things. Like read our white papers. Today, the

great majority of Podcasts are free. All of them let you get the

audio programming you want, when you want it with very

minimal effort.

By the way, the name Podcast comes from the combination of

Pod from iPod, the most often used MP3 player, and

broadcasting. But you probably already figured that out.

The new kid on the Blog.

No, it’s not the name of the newest boy band. Thank God. It’s

what Podcasting is. Or was.

A little history lesson:

Podcasting was a minor media player in 2004 and early 2005

as the technology employed to deliver the programs, Really

Simple Syndication or RSS, became standardized and gained

distribution. RSS allows Internet users to subscribe to websites

that have provided RSS feeds. These are typically sites that

change or add content regularly. Still with me?

At first, RSS gave the builders of text-based Blogs the opportunity

to distribute new text postings directly to interested readers.

The same technology used for text delivery allows Podcast

program subscribers to get their audio Podcasts delivered.

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While RSS is clearly a good idea, it is simply too difficult to use

unless you are a dedicated web user with a “be the first on your

block” (or Blog) technology mind-set. To make all of this magic

work, you need to download one of at least 45 popular and

somewhat geeky RSS feed readers or aggregators and figure

out how to make it do its magic. This is a bit too Palo Alto for

most of us (I am not talking to the tech-cognoscenti here).

However, in the past year Google, Yahoo! and MSN have helped

us out by adding user-friendly RSS to their personalized

sections. Everyday users do not have to download anything and

do not have to read a RSS user manual to subscribe to the feeds

they want – RSS becomes invisible just like html. They have no

need to ever hear the name RSS again.

The world dramatically changed in May 2005 with the introduction

of audio Podcasting programs to Apple’s iTunes 30 million music

store customers (see Fig. 1 on page 4). Apple once again

revolutionized the Internet landscape and took the not-so-simple

Really Simple Syndication and made it, well, really, really simple.

With one click, iTunes 4.9 made it possible for us to subscribe to

different audio feeds and have them automatically delivered to

iTunes and then transferred to your iPod (or if you prefer, just to

your computer).

Apple allows Podcast producers to add their listings for free and

added a comprehensive user-friendly directory. This is very

important because you could be the next Podcast producer just

like our friends at Pod Climber.

Audio Podcasting recently gained additional energy with the

birth of Yahoo! Podcasts (see Fig. 2 on page 4). Yes, more one-

click ease and a directory of hundreds of Podcasts. Beautiful.

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Fig. 1: iTunes Podcast section on iTunes Music Store

Fig. 2: Yahoo! Podcasts http://podcasts.yahoo.com

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The Pod People cometh.

“Pod People” jokes aside, the power of Podcasting lies in its

ability to give consumers the information and entertainment

they want, when they want it, which will ultimately help

marketers reach and influence their audiences in new ways.

I’m not the only one to notice this. Podcasting is getting hot. You

know something is up when Katie and Matt, the quintessential

two-peas-in-a-pod, discuss Podcasting on the TODAY Show.

In fact, according to April 2005’s PEW Internet Study, one of the

most reliable predictors of growth, by the end of 2006 there will

be 10 million Podcast users. I am convinced that they may be off

by at least 50%.

Why?

Two days after release of Podcasting on iTunes, Apple reported

one million Podcast subscriptions. Two…days!

According to Business Week (May 16, 2005): “Over the past

six months, the number of Podcasts has jumped 25-fold to

5,302 feeds in mid-May.” Uh, that was before iTunes and

Yahoo! democratized Podcasting.

From last July: “Researchers at The Diffusion Group predicted

this week that the U.S. Podcast audience will climb from

840,000 last year to 56 million by 2010. By that time,

three-quarters of all people who own portable digital music

players will listen to Podcasts, up from less than 15 percent

last year,” the digital entertainment research group said.

Additional insights come from Yahoo!’s October 2005 white

paper “RSS – Crossing into the Mainstream,” which states

that 28% of Internet users are aware of Podcasting, but

only 2% currently subscribe to Podcasts, pointing to a clear

growth area for publishers and marketers.

Yes, Pod People are indeed everywhere and those who haven’t

been assimilated yet, will be. This, as it turns out, is a good thing.

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You see, lots of different people use Podcasts. The current ticket

to Podcast membership is the desire to listen to the spoken

word and the money to own an MP3 player to take your Podcasts

with you. Today’s Podcast users are older and more educated

than you might imagine. But don’t take my word for it.

According to Billboard Radio Monitor (August 19, 2005):

“A survey of over 8,000 American consumers by pollsters CLX

has revealed that Podcasting is most popular with those over

45, with 21% of those questioned listening to Podcasts. This

compares to just 13% of 15 to 24-year olds.”

Okay, so now you know what Podcasting is. Here’s why you should care.

Like the Digital Video Recorders (think TiVo) that came before

it, Podcasting gives people the ability to control their media

consumption. This shift from passive consumption to consumer

control is important to any marketer who uses media to reach

and win the minds and hearts of consumers. Just like TiVo and

TV, people opt-in to receive the Podcasts that interest them,

wait for these Podcasts to be delivered, then listen or watch

when they want to.

With TiVo I can avoid commercials and time-shift my viewing

for my personal convenience. Podcasting gives me the same

freedom and now portability. I no longer have to listen to

terrestrial radio or watch airline movies when traveling on

business. I can readily—and aurally—digest the information I

need with fresh Podcasts that keep me up to speed with latest

thinkers in Silicon Valley (“InfoTalk”), tune me into my old

hometown (WNYC’s Brian Leher), provide a preview on my

upcoming travels (“Three Minutes in Shanghai”) and give me the

scoop on what’s popular in pop culture (Slate Magazine). I can

create my very own personal programming with a single click.

It seems that Do It Yourself-ism isn’t confined to the aisles of

the local Home Depot.

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It gets better.

Apple just cranked Podcasting up another major notch with the

introduction of iTunes Videocasting and its new crop of video-

capable iPods that allow users to play videos, listen to music and

display photos.

I actually used this technology last week while stuck in a mountain

pass traffic jam for two hours. (Don’t ask.) I was out of radio and

cell range, but lo and behold! My trusty iPod was loaded with the

latest episode of “Desperate Housewives,” courtesy of an iTunes

Videocast. Talk about better living through technology.

At the time of this writing, there are only 78 Videocasts on iTunes.

These are a combination of the somewhat technoid DV “GearTalk”

and the now famous “Rocketboom” (see Fig. 3 below).

Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine suggests that despite this modest

beginning, Videocasting is poised for great things. “I point out all

the things Rocketboom doesn’t have: expensive studios,

equipment, staff, lawyers, deals, marketing budgets,” Jarvis said

three weeks before Apple introduced the easiest way to get

Videocasts. “But they do have audience. Rocketboom serves at

least 60,000 downloads a day. Compare that with Crossfire’s

audience on CNN: 150,000. So Rocketboom has more than a third

of the big network show’s audience at a fraction of the cost. And,

by the way, CNN’s audience is near retirement age, while

Rocketboom’s fans (excluding me) are young enough to be CNN

viewers’ grandchildren.”

Don’t worry. More Videocasts are on the way. This is a very hot

space with new, mostly re-purposed shows like NBC Nightly News

and Nightline and personal I-want-to-be-Scorsese mini-films on the

horizon. The options—and opportunities—are limitless.

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Fig. 3: Rocketboom http://rocketboom.com/

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It’s a brave new marketing world.

There’s no denying that the Podcasting invasion is in full swing.

So what’s a marketing professional to do?

Of course, “How to Use Podcasting and Videocasting to Reach

Vast Vertical Markets” merits its very own white paper, but here

is the top line of what you should know and do. Yes, it’s still

early. Just think of this as Podcasting’s spring training.

First, the opportunity:

People are very busy. If you can now give them a way to get

“home delivery” so they can watch or listen to your message

when they want, everyone wins. To put it another way, direct

personal delivery to a constituency that has actively asked for

your message is good. Very good.

Audio and video programming will take on a new life as

Podcasting allows them to be delivered with greater ease.

Podcasting provides a delivery tool that works harder, and

actually gets through better, than email. Let’s face it. E-mail

newsletters are so 2004.

People have unique entertainment and business information

needs. Microcasting works to deliver a targeted message to a

wide array of very interested markets.

-- Now, the how to use.

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Here are a few examples of how marketers can use Podcasting

to reach external markets and to speak with internal

constituencies:

On the simplest level, just sponsor a couple of targeted Podcasts

and Videocasts. Lexus now sponsors KCRW’s Podcasts. Shouldn’t

Robert Mondavi sponsor “Grape Radio?” C’mon folks this is the

easy way for you to tell your boss that you are on the cutting

edge of Podom. And, it isn’t like these shows can’t pull large

audiences. “This Week In Tech”, arguably the number one

Podcast, has over 200,000 weekly listeners.

Produce your own category-specific audio and video shows. Take

advantage of what’s essentially the newest broadcast medium.

IBM has created a series of Podcasts now running on iTunes

including “IBM and the Future of Shopping.” Whirlpool created “The

American Family” (see Fig.4 below). What could you produce? I

know that you can be a bit more – uh - more exciting shall we say.

Create a new form of active audio and video collateral materials.

Why are there so many out-of-date paper-based brochures? This

is another nail in the ink and paper coffin.

Deliver audio and video press releases that have life to them.

The big players will. Why shouldn’t you?

Do video demos of new products and send them to your

Evangelists and the bored press.

Make your CEO, COO or CTO a star. I see a raise coming.

Talk directly with employees and shareholders via the delivery

of Podcasting news events.

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Fig. 4: Whirlpool’s “The American Family” Podcast

http://www.whirlpool.com/custserv/promo.jsp?sectionId=563

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They come in peace.

And it’s time to get a piece of the action.

Despite the fact that the acronym RSS will quickly die away, the

syndication of Podcasts is here to stay and will begin to play an

increasingly important role in marketing programs. Just as we

discussed a couple of years ago in our white paper on the TiVo

effect, consumer control of the media and personalization is a good

thing for marketers.

Moreover, it is a great thing for forward-thinking marketers with a

vision and the desire to try the new.

This vision will require marketers to start to think more like editors

and journalists. More like producers than ad-builders. More about

conversations than lecturers. More two-way than one-way. More

niche than mass.

The tough-love reality is that unlike push media (TV and even

Web 1.0), syndication and Podcasting requires a new breed of

marketers with the skill-sets to create marketing messages that

consumers will actually choose to consume. I’ve got to tell you folks,

it is more difficult to create content that people choose to listen to

than it is to force-feed messaging via hit and run commercials. That

said; imagine hitting RSS and Podcasting’s sweet spot. We will go

from having a large percentage of our messages ignored to having

them be anticipated. What a concept.

No, this is not the death of old media.

In fact, we believe that it is imperative that old media (which still

dominates in audience reach by the way) and these new

technologies work seamlessly together in a perfect 360º world.

Whew, I knew I had to get that in.

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We want you. We are looking for that handful of marketers that are

willing to take the leap into Podcasting and Videocasting. We have

been developing global, national and regional marketing strategies

leading to stand-out audio and video programming for 20 years.

To add to our core competencies, we have assembled a team of

experienced Podcasters, Bloggers, writers, art directors, animators,

audio and video producers and Internet entrepreneurs. We have

the tools and experience to get you started on your journey.

Just call me at 541-388-2003 or send an email to

peter@ralston360.com. Give me a critical marketing objective

and fifteen minutes and I’ll give you your Podcast strategy. I mean it.

Peter Levitan

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W H AT I S T H E 3 6 0 V I E W ?

It’s a series of white papers featuring marketing insights

from Ralston360 CEO Peter Levitan. The 360 View provides

business and marketing professionals with new perspectives

on what makes marketing communications work. Not yesterday.

Not tomorrow. Not in theory. But in the real world, right now.

To get a fresh outlook on the business of creating, nurturing

and maintaining Delighted Customers, check out Peter’s next

360 View. You’ll find a visionary approach to marketing

communications. And a 360º view of how to make it work.

Past 360 Views can be seen at ralston360.com.

W E D E L I V E R

Ralston360 is dedicated to helping clients

exceed marketing objectives and ROI goals.

We are dedicated to getting our clients and

their messages noticed.

We do not have a one-size-fits-all solution, and

recognize that the most effective program is

based on the right brand strategy, advertising,

direct response or grass roots marketing.

Our mantra is simple: We help our clients

acquire, stimulate and retain Delighted

Customers.

W H Y W E D E L I V E R

Ralston360 is a full-service marketing

company with 20 years experience in

national and local markets. Our management

has worked in major agencies in San

Francisco, Seattle, New York, Minneapolis

and London. We offer strategic research and

guidance leading to effective marketing

solutions for print, broadcast, corporate ID,

collateral, direct marketing, trade marketing

and the Internet.

W H O W E H AV E D E L I V E R E D F O R

Just a few of our clients in Oregon,

Washington, Idaho and California:

ACCENT OPTICAL TECHNOLOGIES–the global leader in

optoelectronic process controls

BANK OF THE CASCADES—nationally recognized

Northwest bank

CLEAR CHOICE HEALTH PLANS—Medicare-Plus

insurance program

IDAHO POWER—publicly traded regional electric utility

LEGALZOOM.COM—The leading online legal resource

THE OLD SPAGHETTI FACTORY—39 restaurants

across America

SEASWIRL BOATS—International sport and fishing boat

manufacturer

SUNRIVER RESORT—the Northwest’s leading golf and

destination resort

And some clients from our staff’s deep,

dark past:

ADIDAS INTERNATIONAL

AMEX

AT&T

COCA-COLA

GENERAL MILLS

JOHNSON & JOHNSON

NORTHWEST AIRLINES

PBS

SARA LEE

SUZUKI

We make it easy to reach Ralston360:

ralston360.com 877 577 5790 toll free info@ralston360.com

19797 Village Office Ct.

Bend, Oregon 97702

877-577-5790

fax 541-388-4381

www.ralston360.com

info@ralston360.com

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San Francisco, CA 94115

415-440-3608

laura@ralston360.com

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