Podcast: The new power of the Jekami
Internet marketers need to understand podcasting: It will influence their strategies. Report from the 1st Swiss Podcast Day.
Internet advertisers need to know podcasting: It will influence their strategies. Report from the 1st Swiss Podcast Day Media managers are currently observing a curious phenomenon. It's called podcasting. Users produce their own radio shows without much effort and post them on the Internet. The Goldbach Media Group hosted the 1st Swiss Podcast Day last Thursday. For the speakers and organizers, one thing is certain: podcasting will change and significantly influence media use and ultimately advertising. Although the word podcast was named word of the year by the editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary last year, many communications experts at the Goldbach Media event were not quite sure what exactly podcasting meant. When one participant asked whether a podcast could be defined as an MP3, the speaker replied: "If you think of paper as a newspaper, yes."
In short: podcasting is a made-up word. It is made up of the English term "broadcasting" and the name of the popular audio player iPod. Wikipedia defines it as follows: "Podcasting refers to the production and provision of media files in a newsfeed via the Internet.
Specifically, listeners of podcasts can download and consume audio contributions via a receiver software such as iTunes. They also have the option of subscribing to podcasts so that the software automatically searches for new episodes and updates the archive. A microphone and production software also make it quick and easy to produce your own radio broadcasts and put them online. Experts often refer to this as community radio. Just like Berthold Brecht's radio idea.
The development and spread of podcasts is scaring publishers. German publisher Dr. Hubert Burda is considered a thought leader and pioneer when it comes to the integration and development of digital media: "In the last 40 years that I've been in this business, I don't think I've ever experienced a time of such upheaval and so many opportunities and risks as the time we're living in." By risks, Burda means the proliferation of weblogs and the many new offerings that have become possible thanks to broadband and digitalization.
The speakers at the Goldbach Media event agreed that media use will change from the ground up. Never before has it been so easy to communicate with the world. And never before have so many people taken advantage of this opportunity. You don't have to look far for examples. More than 35,000 users upload videos to Youtube.com every day. They are viewed more than 35 million times a day.
However, it is not just technology that is driving a rethink. Surprisingly for many, viewers, listeners and readers have suddenly become eager producers and therefore also competitors. Since the new generation iPod came onto the market, the reach of podcasts has tripled. Seven percent of all German Internet users are said to listen to podcasts every day. According to the Association of the German Internet Industry (Eco), this figure is set to rise to more than three million in 2010.
The number of podcasts is difficult to estimate. There are more than 40,000 of them in the Apple online store iTunes alone, and they are updated regularly. The topics range from science to comedy.
The majority of the podcasts currently available are the kind of talks we are familiar with from conventional radio broadcasts. For example, Annik Rubens, a podcast pioneer from Munich, reports on everyday life in the big city in her daily podcast "Sleepless in Munich". Thomas Wanhoff has dedicated himself to the "Wonderful World of Science" and explains black holes, prehistoric organisms and forest and meadow research in Jena via podcast. There are also language courses, radio plays, regional news and much more.
According to the experts, the typical podcast user is male, just under 30 years old, has an above-average education, is 50 percent likely to be single, earns a good income, subscribes to an average of eight podcasts and listens to around three and a half hours of podcasts per week.
You can hear that most podcasts are made by amateurs. They cough and stutter. For Thomas Wanhoff, guest speaker at the 1st Swiss Podcast Day and podcast pioneer from the very beginning, that's what makes it so special. "Listeners appreciate the authenticity," he says. He believes that the podcast scene tends to detest "clean" contributions because they demand honesty.
For Alexander Wunschel, operator of the "Markendreiklang" podcast, this also explains the fascination of podcasting quickly and briefly. "The trend towards podcasting has also emerged from a mass media frustration where the language and the broadcasts are perfect. Podcast listeners don't want cuts. They want the blurbs. That creates trust."
Trust is interesting for the advertising industry, says Wunschel. Podcasts are a medium that can have a strong influence on branding precisely because of their honesty and style. Thanks to the multiplication effect, a podcast with a reach of 100 regular listeners can achieve more than expensive advertising in the form of advertisements. In addition, 76 percent of podcast listeners would accept advertising. Money is a sensitive issue in the podcast scene. After all, podcasters primarily produce for themselves and their community. "That's a good thing," says Wanhoff, "You don't ask stamp collectors why they collect and how they earn money from it."
Christian Lüscher
In short: podcasting is a made-up word. It is made up of the English term "broadcasting" and the name of the popular audio player iPod. Wikipedia defines it as follows: "Podcasting refers to the production and provision of media files in a newsfeed via the Internet.
Specifically, listeners of podcasts can download and consume audio contributions via a receiver software such as iTunes. They also have the option of subscribing to podcasts so that the software automatically searches for new episodes and updates the archive. A microphone and production software also make it quick and easy to produce your own radio broadcasts and put them online. Experts often refer to this as community radio. Just like Berthold Brecht's radio idea.
The development and spread of podcasts is scaring publishers. German publisher Dr. Hubert Burda is considered a thought leader and pioneer when it comes to the integration and development of digital media: "In the last 40 years that I've been in this business, I don't think I've ever experienced a time of such upheaval and so many opportunities and risks as the time we're living in." By risks, Burda means the proliferation of weblogs and the many new offerings that have become possible thanks to broadband and digitalization.
The speakers at the Goldbach Media event agreed that media use will change from the ground up. Never before has it been so easy to communicate with the world. And never before have so many people taken advantage of this opportunity. You don't have to look far for examples. More than 35,000 users upload videos to Youtube.com every day. They are viewed more than 35 million times a day.
However, it is not just technology that is driving a rethink. Surprisingly for many, viewers, listeners and readers have suddenly become eager producers and therefore also competitors. Since the new generation iPod came onto the market, the reach of podcasts has tripled. Seven percent of all German Internet users are said to listen to podcasts every day. According to the Association of the German Internet Industry (Eco), this figure is set to rise to more than three million in 2010.
The number of podcasts is difficult to estimate. There are more than 40,000 of them in the Apple online store iTunes alone, and they are updated regularly. The topics range from science to comedy.
The majority of the podcasts currently available are the kind of talks we are familiar with from conventional radio broadcasts. For example, Annik Rubens, a podcast pioneer from Munich, reports on everyday life in the big city in her daily podcast "Sleepless in Munich". Thomas Wanhoff has dedicated himself to the "Wonderful World of Science" and explains black holes, prehistoric organisms and forest and meadow research in Jena via podcast. There are also language courses, radio plays, regional news and much more.
According to the experts, the typical podcast user is male, just under 30 years old, has an above-average education, is 50 percent likely to be single, earns a good income, subscribes to an average of eight podcasts and listens to around three and a half hours of podcasts per week.
You can hear that most podcasts are made by amateurs. They cough and stutter. For Thomas Wanhoff, guest speaker at the 1st Swiss Podcast Day and podcast pioneer from the very beginning, that's what makes it so special. "Listeners appreciate the authenticity," he says. He believes that the podcast scene tends to detest "clean" contributions because they demand honesty.
For Alexander Wunschel, operator of the "Markendreiklang" podcast, this also explains the fascination of podcasting quickly and briefly. "The trend towards podcasting has also emerged from a mass media frustration where the language and the broadcasts are perfect. Podcast listeners don't want cuts. They want the blurbs. That creates trust."
Trust is interesting for the advertising industry, says Wunschel. Podcasts are a medium that can have a strong influence on branding precisely because of their honesty and style. Thanks to the multiplication effect, a podcast with a reach of 100 regular listeners can achieve more than expensive advertising in the form of advertisements. In addition, 76 percent of podcast listeners would accept advertising. Money is a sensitive issue in the podcast scene. After all, podcasters primarily produce for themselves and their community. "That's a good thing," says Wanhoff, "You don't ask stamp collectors why they collect and how they earn money from it."
Christian Lüscher
