I don’t know about you, but according to our postbox, the arrival of this email marks The Start of The Weekend. I don’t know if you have ridiculously stressful Fridays – full of meetings and ‘can you do this by EOP?’ requests, but we also know that a sunny Friday in July is a time to treasure.
In contrast, I’m dreading The Start of the Weekend. For two reasons – one, it’s the beginning of something called ‘Kestrel Class Camping’ – think small children getting lost in a large forest – and two – ‘Can I get some friends round while you are away Dad?’ has escalated swiftly to ‘around 40’ 16 year olds heading to my house for Malibu and Cokes on Saturday night. Pray for me. And our hanging baskets.
It’s DoPSotE here, subbing in for Neil who’s on ‘holiday’ at the Dance World Cup. Think the Women’s Euros with slightly pointier shoes.
AudioUK call urgently
A little piece of my confidence in the government died when it published its strategy for the creative industries last month. In over 80 pages and 11.2MB of pdf, podcasting is barely given a sniff in its tales of superclusters and creative corridors. AudioUK are trying to fix this with a new campaign – to get the government to properly recognise how podcasting is fast becoming a huge cultural force in the UK, creatively and commercially. They point out:
- The number of people listening to podcasts in the UK has more than doubled over the last 5 years, and is set to continue to grow exponentially, particularly in under 24s.
- The podcast and audio industry in the UK is worth an estimated £5 billion annually, thanks to its wide reach and capacity for IP development and exploitation. It is one of the fastest growing Creative Industries in the world, exceeding 20 – 30% annual expansion rates versus the single-digit or mid-teens typical elsewhere.
- Podcasting thrives both locally and globally. On a local level, over 50% of AudioUK member businesses are outside of London, creating jobs, providing training, and platforming local stories and voices.
- Podcasting and audio is a key UK export. Shows including The Rest Is Politics, The Rest Is History, Traitors: Uncloaked, Kill List and The Magnus Archives reach billions of listeners worldwide, and have proven their influence on a global scale.
Those are bullet points we can all agree with. Their campaign is live now – please get involved...
Streaming Metrics
There’s another newsletter out there, I’m afraid. It’s called The Streaming Wars and it looks at ‘the best content from the OTT industry’ and has set its sights on Netflix’s focus on ‘hours watched and time spent’ to measure the success of their shows. An ‘anonymous strategist’ has cast shade on this, pointing out it’s not actually tied to a business outcome.
In our podcast stats analysis, our favourite number is often ‘Listen and Watch Time’ – it means the same across every platform, it combines reach and engagement like no other, it leans into why a long form podcast is great. It also differs from many other metrics in marketing – it’s intentional (no-one listens to a podcast by mistake), it’s genuine attention (90% of those ears are listening on headphones, not scrolling their phone) and we’ve proved that that longer form engagement has better brand results (double that of social, if you’re interested).
So it reminds us that a) another industry fights over its metrics too and b) don’t just focus on one trendy metric. Focus on actual business outcomes and the metrics that actually make those outcomes happen.
Magellan AI and Brand Studies
We love the good and smart people at Magellan AI, and they’ve just released a Incremental Lift measurement that will do exactly that. They’ll take your podcast ad campaign and compare exposed and control groups to measure the incremental impact of your beautifully sounding campaign. Perfect for that grumpy CFO called Nigel who is addicted to his search spend because Google give him a low cost per result, even though your carefully constructed podcast campaign persuading your customer (let’s call her Stacey) to search in the first place, was the thing that actually made the difference. Go Stace.
Want to know more? Come and talk to us and we’ll give you a perfectly calibrated campaign that will please both Nigel and Stacey.
Annie Day takes a trip to the movies…
When asked, I say one of my favourite podcasts is Kermode and Mayo’s Take – yet I realised I’ve never actually recommended it here. So, as they celebrate their 20th anniversary, it felt like a good time to write a review. Technically, the current version of the show has only been running since 2022, when they moved from the BBC to Sony. But it really started in 2005, when the BBC released the film review from Simon Mayo’s 5 Live show as an ‘audio download’. It’s stayed firmly in my feed ever since, which is odd, because I’m not a film buff. I reckon I watch two or three films a year, if that.
I listen because I love the hosts. Simon Mayo is one of the best in the business, and his relationship with film reviewer Mark Kermode is sublime. They clearly enjoy each other’s company, they know what they’re talking about, and, most importantly, you feel part of the conversation. They share fun glimpses into their lives, there are silly in-jokes (but never exclusionary), and it’s like being part of a warm and welcoming club. It’s the only podcast I pay for, which, for someone who rarely watches films, says quite a lot. My final word on this: Hello to Jason Isaacs. If you know, you know. If you don’t, start listening.
Clara Kavanagh saves you time reading…
If you’re too depressed to read a whole book about how Facebook is destroying the world, then why not guzzle it all in a neat ninety minutes? Hosted by two comedians, Celebrity Memoir Book Club reads star-studded autobiographies, so you don’t have to. They’ve done some hilarious episodes on Alec Baldwin and Will Smith, and they have a real soft spot for UK celebs, episodes on Katie Price and each of the Spice Girls are particular faves of mine! This week they cover Facebook whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams’ highly anticipated exposé Careless People. Sarah is a lawyer and was one of the early members of Facebook’s global policy team. She joined with dreams of using technology to make a positive impact on the world. Unsurprisingly, these visions quickly came crashing down as she realised there were pirates at the helm who cared more about profit than people. They dissect the jaw-dropping claims that COO and author of ‘Lean In’ Sheryl Sandberg invited both Sarah and a junior aide to bed, they get weirded out by the many strange examples of Zuckerberg’s ego and emotional immaturity and they talk through the misogyny and sexual harassment that was baked into Facebook’s culture. One particular doozey was a HR complaint Sarah received while on maternity leave, which criticized her for being ‘unreachable’ after having promised to stay in touch. What the complaint failed to mention was the fact that Sarah was in a coma for four days after suffering post-partum complications. It’s a witty, snarky and insightful spin on an explosive memoir, where all the injunctions and fuss from Facebook has made it a bestseller. What I do not recommend is also watching Jesse Armstrongs’ new HBO film, ‘Mountainhead’ – about toxic fintech bro billionaire culture and amorality. While a ridiculous film, it landed some good punches. But it was way too many high-stake corporate shenanigans for me this week, I think I need to throw my phone in the bin and join a commune.
What we’ve been listening to this week
One of my favourite pieces of research we’ve done is with the smart cookies at Kinda Studios, looking at why podcasts are so good for your brain. Audio can transport you to places like no other because it frees and helps your brain to imagine what that place is like.
Heathrow have taken this to another level by transporting you to a place you’re already transporting from, by piping in ‘sounds of anticipation and excitement’ with their Sound of Heathrow mood-mix.
I’ve been trying to think of something comparable, and all I can think of is canned laughter in 90s sit-coms. What’s also occurred to me is that much of that canned laughter is from people who are now dead, which is a pretty dark thought. The kind of dark thoughts I occasionally get at an airport in a 2 hour queue for security.
What we’ve been doing this week
Michaela spent a blissful morning this week getting wild-track for a very exciting project we’re working on for the autumn. Crunching grasses, buzzing bees, birdsong – all captured by our clever Director of Content. Coming soon to your ears.
On our third heatwave of the summer, those are the kind of transporting sounds we can all look forward to this weekend. Even if this weekend you’re trying to stay out of the way of ‘around 40’ 16 year-olds, drinking Malibu and Coke, far too close to your hanging baskets.
