Can podcast capitalise on the push it got from pandemic?

As more content creators are staying at home due to the pandemic and content production is affected, the podcast medium is witnessing growth.

Even though podcast captures only a very small fraction of the overall advertising spend, advertisers are turning to this medium with their restrained budgets.

Deciphering what all other factors are adding to the growth, BuzzInContent.com also found out how the medium is paving the way for branded content opportunities too.

Podcasts have to be viewed as a pure form of self-expression, said Tapas Sen, Chief Content Officer at Entertainment Network India (Radio Mirchi).

Unlike picture-driven platforms or a post with a word limit, a podcast is a platform that allows creators to pour their hearts out.

Tapas Sen

“The spurt of podcasts we see is mainly due to the pandemic-induced crisis, and the lockdown has thrown us into an introspective zone. I believe more and more people are leaning towards podcasts, mainly because of its individualist essence,” he said.

Prashan Agarwal

Prashan Agarwal, CEO, Gaana, said that the primary reason behind the explosion of podcasts is the flexibility the format offers to creators to create an episode from anywhere, and the creative freedom it offers to serve any genre of non-music content in interesting ways — and that’s the beauty of podcasting.

The use of podcasts by creators was already a growing trend even before the crisis. What the crisis has done is to restrain creators from going out and creating videos in the outdoors, which has come as a boon for the podcast space.

Sreeraman Thiagarajan

The pandemic saw a dip in new video content and entertainment programmes, and this presented a golden opportunity for the audio platforms to up their game and strengthen their presence in providing good quality content, said Sreeraman Thiagarajan, Co-Founder and CEO aawaz.com.

When it comes to creating content sitting at home, there's only limited variation that can be done from a video perspective.

Sanjay Mehta

But communication can continue to happen as an audio feed as there is still a lot that the creator wants to share. This has led to an increase in the adoption of podcasts by creators, said Sanjay Mehta, Joint CEO of Mirum India.  

At the consumer's end also, there is an increased acceptance for audio content.

Sunil Kumaran

Agreeing to the unprecedented interest in podcast in the past six months, Sunil Kumaran, Country Head- Product, Marketing and THWINK BIG, BIG FM, said that apart from the rise in content consumption of all kinds, the audiences too now have started to make very active choices in terms of what they want to listen or watch.

Dushyantt Kohli

According to Dushyantt Kohli, COO, Khabri, “Audio content creation is much easier than video as there are no visuals involved. Plus the equipment required for video recording is expensive and needs a user’s involvement and technical know-how.”

In the recent past, Khabri has seen a huge jump to the tune of 300% in the number of creators joining the platform through Khabri Studio, which is a dedicated app for creators to record podcasts.

A podcast is a subscribed audio programme available on your smartphone where hosts speak about diverse subjects. The advantage is that you can listen to them whenever and wherever, including in your car, which makes the information available hands-free.

Neena Dasgupta

The length doesn’t matter—they can be either an hour-long with interviews or simply short takes. They can be posted daily or monthly or weekly.

With these factors, Neena Dasgupta, CEO and Director at Zirca Digital Solutions, said, “Some moved due to inability to shoot video while some new creators came on board due to the present situation.”

Internationally, podcasts have been a big category in terms of content and creators but in India they have always been under exploited. While a few streaming services have been dabbling here and there, the lockdown forced a lot of creators to move to podcasting, she added. 

Kavita Rajwade

Kavita Rajwade, Co-Founder of IVM Podcasts, believes consumption and creators’ interest towards podcast has been growing for quite some time. However, it is now in the pandemic that it has been noticed because the medium is not cumbersome unlike creating videos and is more authentic as well.

It is obvious that if a space grows, brands ought to follow.

 Will this lead to increase in branded content opportunities?

Brands definitely are going to leverage the opportunity in growing audience size and increased time spent on podcast, said Kumaran. However, podcast is still at a very nascent stage but growing rapidly.

“I don’t think brands will opt for podcasts from the reach perspective at present but will look at it for getting a certain kind of audience, mindset and its ability to engage audiences in depth. Most brands are not segmenting audiences on the basis of demographics but psycho graphics and podcast allows brands to target a certain segment of audience and a certain kind of mindset, which is lucrative for a brand,” he added.

Recently, Ultra Tech Cement collaborated with Big FM for its show ‘Baat Ghar Ki’ (podcast series) which was available on awaaz.com.

Mehta said there is a continuing increase in brand participation in podcasts, either as a sponsor /advertiser or as someone producing their own branded content in the form of podcasts.

“There is an opportunity to have a seamless integration of brand content into the podcast content, to make a perfect ‘native ad’ that is well received,” he said.

Mirum along with AMFI had created a radio campaign on IPL called the "Mutual Funds Commentary", where through metaphors parallels were drawn between cricket and mutual fund investments to drive the core message of Mutual Funds Sahi Hai.  The spots were played on Gaana, Saavn and Spotify, which helped it to reach digital natives across tier 1 and tier 2 cities.

“While syndicated podcast content pieces ensure brand visibility and content affinity, branded content pieces owing to the liberty they offer, drive more traction and interest from advertisers/brands. The branded content podcasts give brands a far higher level of innovation and presence,” said Agarwal.

Gaana recently executed a podcast, ‘Let’s Crack It’ for Unacademy, which was hosted by Cyrus Broacha.

Thiagarajan agreed that there has been an increase in brand association since the lockdown.

He said, “The brands that were with us pre-Covid haven’t pulled out and more tech companies are keen to create content with us. Covid led to the realisation that digital transformation is the way forward. So, technology companies want to partner with us to create podcasts on Voice, Cloud and digital tools like API management. Brands are exploring its potential and are experimenting with the same, be it the auto industry, or financial sector, investments, wellbeing, etc.”

However, in case of Zirca, Dasgupta said, “I have had conversations with a few brands that have evaluated podcasts under their branded content verticals, but the numbers have not been very promising so far. The good news is that conversations are happening around this and soon someone bold and brave will take the plunge.”

Brands today might not be as interested for podcasts as they are for other formats/platforms given the ROI in podcast is still been figured out in India, said Rajwade.

Audio is not new to India; in fact it is older than TV and mobile. However, podcast or audio on-demand for non-music content has picked up momentum only in the past year or so.

Thiagarajan said, “Advertisers go where they have an audience, and with podcast players steadily getting a captive audience at scale, monetisation will be commonplace.”

Monetisation is linked to popularity and reach.

In the case of podcasts, in India, we are slowly emerging to a stage where some podcasts are getting significant traction, said Mehta.

He added, “If there is a large base of subscribers who keep tuning back to a podcast series, and that is sustained, that base is monetisable well. Gradually we are seeing this happen and we will only see increasing numbers where monetisation of podcasts is concerned.”

“I see monetisation happening soon. Effectively is a relative term. Let the child walk properly first,” said Dasgupta.

Rajwade, while sharing her experience, said the industry might be under-utilised in terms of monetisation but surely is bullish in terms of brands noticing the opportunities.

“At least five brands we have worked with are now in the category where their experimental budget has come to us (podcast),” she said.

Even Sen said that as we move forward, more and more brands will start including podcasts as a part of their overall marketing strategy. Mirchi too has been creating these solutions that cater to different product categories, and appeal to distinctive consumer sections.

While the green shoots are already visible in this industry, Kumaran said soon there will be new platforms emerging and a rush of content creators. Therefore, he said the quality of content on podcast will be one of the biggest drivers. Plus, rather than replicating the already evolved podcast industries, one has to have its own set of learnings.

The podcast industry will see a lot of traction in terms of monetisation, though, according to Kohli, the models will be different and won’t be limited to advertising only.

“The subscription or transactional audio on demand will be the way forward and more and more Indians will start paying for quality content they will get in the form of podcasts,” he said.

Turning to podcasts for opportunities or safety purpose is fine but which medium does not have dos and don’ts?

Challenges in terms of podcast expertise — Dos and don’ts for podcast creators

When creating a podcast, one has to be sure that the topic selected would interest the listeners, create a proper script and not try and be impromptu, do proper research on the topic, advised Thiagarajan.

While recording, he said, one has to ensure a proper environment is maintained. Instead of recording on smart phones, proper mics and recording equipment should be used and proper editing and packing of the show has to be done.

“With podcasts, unlike videos, there is a single medium of communication, viz. the audio. So, if momentarily also, the content starts getting boring or dragging, it is immediately noticed, and you risk the user walking away. The second thing to keep in mind is that people need to understand your language, again without the benefit of a video action or body language to support. Hence, speech clarity and the accent must be clear. Else the listener may not understand the content well,” Mehta said.

Other than the focus on quality of content as there is no visual to balance the overall experience, Kohli said one should plan for podcast from a long-term perspective and divide the subject logically to ensure listeners’ interest is captured for longer period.

Rajwade insisted creators should find their own voice.

“When you ask people for 30-40 minutes of their time, value has to be created,” she said.

Sen said, “The only rule that creators need to abide for this content-driven platform is — ‘Don’t be boring’.”

Nina strictly believes that till the time the content doesn’t harm any religion/community/section or portrays certain things in a derogatory or defamatory manner, and sticks to entertaining/informative storytelling, creators should be allowed to experiment.

And this is how the category will grow.