The Double Standards in Podcasting
Common Sense is Taking It's Last Breath
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Do you want to watch Dave go nuts? Do something and say, “Oh wait, do as I say, not as I do.”
I HATE double standards.
I was at Podcast Movement, and with so many people from the advertising bubble of podcasting, there was a fair amount of people talking in such a fashion that it appeared advertisers were the primary focus/main customer. Which, if you’re selling ads, they are. Duh.
There was talk about focusing more on how far people listen (which is available in Apple and Spotify’s dashboards). I agree. If you want to know if people like your show, that’s a good indication.
The Double Standard - Hey, Advertisers!
I am frustrated and confused as people like Tom Webster from Sounds Profitable explain how podcast advertising is a no-brainer. Report after report explains how Podcast advertising outperforms all other forms of media.
So we outperform radio, newspaper, television, online ads, etc.
Podcasting beats them all.
Yet sponsors who advertise on television shows such as “CSI Newark,” “Law & Order Special Disturbing Unit,” or “The Real Housewives of Lubbock” are worried that Podcasting is not BRAND SAFE.
Yes, I know that people on podcasting might say one or more of the “Seven Dirty Words You Can’t Say on TV.”
Go hang out with a group of 10-year-olds, and you will hear many “naughty” words come out of their mouths. I’m not saying we should open the floodgates, but there may be worries about protecting people's innocence, which was lost many moons ago.
Actress Jenna Ortega (from Netflix’s Wednesday) was forced to get on social media and almost immediately got pictures of men's genitals DM’d to her. -source
She was age 12.
But let’s stay here. When you read “pictures of men's genitals,” did your brain substitute “Dick pic”? They are the same thing. A newspaper would say, “pictures of men's genitals,” and a podcast would say, “Dick Pic.” Both are accurate. One might say a newspaper is more professional. The podcaster is more casual. Choose your preferred vernacular. If you wouldn’t say it in front of a three year old child, mark it as explicit.
Common Sense is Gasping a Last Breath
In a recent episode of Sounds Profitable the Download, they mentioned, “One particularly egregious example cited is TIME’s Person of the Year cover feature for Taylor Swift. TIME CEO Jessica Sibley said the piece was deemed brand-unsafe because it contained language related to feminism and the word ‘torture’ (Swift’s latest album being The Tortured Poets Department).”
I still say that instead of working on the content being published and ensuring it is brand-safe, wouldn’t it be more brilliant, in the long run, to work on helping people react better to things they disagree on?
The Double Standard
This is so frustrating. To sell podcasting ads, we need to know if someone REALLY listened at the 24-minute mark, while nobody says we need to know if someone REALLY saw the advertisement on page B4 of the newspaper or page 17 of that magazine. That’s a double standard.
An article about radio measurement from osum.com mentions, “One of the primary challenges in radio audience measurement is obtaining a representative sample size. It can be difficult to gather data from a large and diverse audience, especially when conducting surveys or interviews. A small sample size may not accurately reflect the preferences and behaviors of the entire radio listenership, leading to skewed results.” At the same time, podcasters have to provide per-listener data to the second. Radio measures things (kind of) to the nearest quarter hour. That’s a double standard.
Yes, Facebook can let you know what our audience had for breakfast three weeks ago.
This isn’t Facebook. It’s podcasting. It’s better (see above).
Hold the line and ask for more money. It appears we don’t have an advertising problem; we have a “Salespeople not being able to explain the insane benefits of podcast advertising” problem.
Friday Night Lights: Do You Live Brand Safe?
It’s Friday night. Do you want to hang out with your co-workers, where you need to stay “Professional,” or your close friends, whom you’ve known for years, have a much closer relationship with, and can be more yourself? Am I saying when the drapes are pulled, and trusted friends surround us, we might lead a not brand-safe life?
Kinda, yeah.
Brand safe = Mistrust with the person you hire to promote your product. It seems like an odd way to make a first impression at the beginning of a business relationship.
Could It Be This Easy?
We already have the explicit tag in podcasting. For me, if you ask, “Is it explicitly if I say____” if you had to ask, the answer is yes. So, you mark your show as explicit.
Then, anyone who marks a show as explicit and has a sponsor for that episode should start with, “The following opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the sponsor,” and then start the show.
Does that not make a big enough “Safe Zone”? If Binky and the Whiz say “Booger” in their episode and people grab their pitchforks and torches and head to the headquarters of the sponsor, the sponsor can’t point to that and say, “We don’t support that.” We are trying to get exposure for our excellent products to good people like you who listen to this filthy show.”
I Love My Advertising Peeps, But
Radio people (who I love) are remembering the good old days of radio. So are the ex-employees of Blockbuster.
“Steve, don’t you remember when we could charge people for not rewinding their video? Oh, the good ol’ days.”
Radio is losing because they sucked ALL the personality out of broadcasting and smothered it with ads.
I could be wrong (I often am), but it sure appears they are trying to do the same to podcasting.
Radio is 30% ads.
That is NOT a benchmark to aim for.
It is a sign that we don’t care about the LISTENER. Sure, we want the advertiser to get a return on their investment, but if we don’t care about the LISTENER, there will be no audience to see your brand-safe advertisements.
It’s Like a Hallway at a Podcast Event
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Next School of Podcasting (I think…)
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