2020 has been the year of the podcast. Podcasting is a discipline that’s flexible and creative enough to tackle major changes like coronavirus head-on. And one thing is absolutely clear: the industry is not just surviving, it’s flourishing.
According to Ofcom, around 7.1 million people in the UK now listen to podcasts each week, a 24% increase from last year – and this trend is reflected right around the globe.
The pandemic has changed all our routines – and from the first spring lockdown until now, media consumption patterns have continued to shift.
Consumption patterns have shifted ever since lockdown began, moving from spikes in the morning — usually on peoples’ journeys to work — and evening — as people choose podcasts to help them wind down — to sustained periods of listening throughout the day.
From new podcasts such as Brown Girls Do It Too, Sh**gged. Married. Annoyed – to long-running programmes such as This American Life, listeners have more choice than ever before.
Business, finance and technology podcasts are on the rise too – with many of the opportunities to build new skills at work now limited due to remote working, podcasts provide a convenient way to inspire and motivate yourself and your team. Of course, there are good podcasts and bad ones – but for business and marketing, you won’t go too far wrong listening to Nick Moore’s The Idea, or the HBR Ideacast.
So, how many podcasts are there, really? Most of the data out there is outdated, but according to the latest stats from Podcast Insights and Acast, it’s currently over 1,500,000. There are also over 34 million episodes as of October 2020.
To highlight the growth, Apple confirmed there were over 550,000 podcasts at WWDC 2018 in early June.
So, are we jumping on the bandwagon a little late?
We have wanted to launch a BH&P podcast for some time now – but what to say? How do you make it engaging? Professional? It’s not enough to want to test out a new channel. It needs to have resonance. Meaning. An audience!
Back in August, we spotted a real gap in the market. A need for a podcast crafted by senior marketers, with their voices at the forefront.
Some of the topics we have planned between now and the end of the year include:
Episode 2/ Launching a new brand in 2020? You must be nuts
Episode 3/ What B2C can learn from B2B (yes, you heard it right)
Episode 4/ What the heck is Venture Marketing? Why you should care
It really is what it says on the tin.
No Bulls**t.
Real ideas.
The No Bull Marketing Ideacast offers a fresh look into the world of marketing right now, seen through the eyes of senior marketers, business leaders and investors.
How the uncertainties we face in our daily lives are affecting the marketing and brand strategies that CMOs are employing.
And how agencies can help marketers to respond better in the face of constant change.
This episode dives into the world of FinTech. We wanted to kick off the first series with a sector that has been completely reshuffled in the face of COVID-19.
How have FinTech brands adapted? What strategies have they adopted? What media channels? How has their messaging shifted in light of constant change? And is it even possible to make a plan for 2021?
Huge thanks to our three guests - Jasper Martens – CMO at PensionBee, Zubair Mohammad, CMO at MarketFinance and Lou Young, Head of Marketing at Woodsford TradeBridge.
Listen now wherever you get your podcast.