By Sam Ikin, IKIN Media

Podcasts continue to grow as a powerful marketing and branding platform. They are a great way to build authority and nurture trust with your customer base.

We are a long way from the days when a podcast was just a recording of a terrestrial radio show or a couple of fanatics chatting on Skype. Podcast listeners now expect to be entertained.

Here are some good examples.

1. The Sauce from McDonalds
McDonalds recently teamed up with Studio@Gizmodo and Onion Labs to create a fun, engaging, satirical series based around its promotional run of Szechuan sauce in the 90’s. The idea came from an episode of the cult animated series Rick and Morty but Macca’s picked it up and ran with it and the outcome is a fun, engaging show.

2. Hackable? from McAfee
This series “digs into the minds of cyber criminals” exploring the vulnerabilities we face through staying connected to the internet. This podcast is a perfect example of how a business can use the medium to entertain and inform an audience in a way that strengthens its brand.

3. Face 2 Face (Facebook)
This Australian production sounds like it’s aimed mostly at advertising and marketing insiders but it’s so well made, anyone who is exposed to advertising (which is pretty much all of us) will appreciate it. Hosted by Jules Lund, it features interviews with some of Australia’s brightest marketers.

4. Tough Conversations with Henry Rollins (Mercedes Benz)
American Musician Henry Rollins travels around Australia interviewing locals about what toughness means to them. Designed to promote Mercedes’ new X-Class which just happens to be a tough, rugged all purpose vehicle. The episodes are reasonably short (less than 20 mins) and are surprisingly engaging.

5. FontCast from Font PR
Tasmania’s top PR firm, Font PR, has released the FontCast capitalising on the experience of its partners Becher Townshend, Brad Nowland and Brad Stansfield. The program, produced and directed by Ikin Media, is a panel style program covering news and politics.

These are examples of how small and large business from Australia and around the world are harnessing the power of podcasting to strengthen their brands.

If you would like to explore how podcasting might work for you, Ikin Media can help, with expertise in multimedia journalism and audio engineering.

Contact sam@ikinmedia.com or call 0419 682 098 for a obligation free chat.