Today, you get a choice, [a] or [b]. It’s about podcasting. If you haven't heard about podcasting yet, you may be in the more…mature…segment of the population. (Remember the bumper sticker? “If my music is too loud, you’re too old.”)
Podcasting is significant because [a] it represents a leading-edge medium you can use to connect with (and gingerly market to) your target audiences; and [b] I am about to become a podcasting star.
Okay! You picked [b].
Good choice (‘cause if you picked [a], I’d send you to Wikipedia to get you started; it’s a long article but you should be keeping up, so read).
Ray Schilens (top) and Bruce Abbott (bottom) run RADIOLOUNGE. Smart, clever guys. They help agencies, direct advertisers, and broadcasters create memorable messages so that clients can stand out in the crowd. Although the name includes the word “radio,” Ray and Bruce are media-neutral: they create radio commercials, audio for television and video, podcast production, creative marketing on hold and more. They work from the RADIOLOUNGE Advanced Audio Technology Centre high atop a single-story office building in Sugar Land, TX.
But their podcasts are downloaded all over the world, from the RADIOLOUNGE podcast site where you’ll find “Advertising's brightest hangin' out.” (You can also use the link in the column on your right.) Ray and Bruce are putting together three podcasts in which they interview me on different marketing-related subjects. It started thusly:
“Richard, would you be a guest on our podcasting program?” Ray asked.
“No, Ray – I’d be embarrassed.”
“Come on, Richard, it’ll be fun,” Bruce pitched in.
“Really, guys – my voice is squeaky, and who wants to hear my opinions anyway?”
“Our podcasts reach thousands of people worldwide, Richard.”
“I’m in.”
As of yesterday, I participated in three separate interviews and did have a lot of fun. Ray and Bruce interviewed me about advertising for Enron's Jeff Skilling, about Oprah Winfrey’s brand, and about selling creativity to clients. You’ll be able to download the podcasts over the next couple of weeks – and I hope you will – because they’re podcasts.
Which returns us to podcasting itself. Blogging is the second fastest-growing new medium in the world. Guess what’s Number 1? It used to be that you needed to be 18 years old and have an iPod, so you could listen to “your music.” Now, podcasts are a far-reaching communications medium – and that’s part of my charge with clients: offer new ways to get their messages out to audiences externally and internally.
Listen, how many of your companies gave you a Blackberry, so you could stay in touch with work? I think an iPod-like device is next. I’ll be talking further about this medium with you. (And maybe get some extra help from Ray and Bruce at RADIOLOUNGE.)
PS: Is my voice squeaky? Come on, you can tell me the truth.
3 comments:
Oooh, you tempt me.
Smooth talker.
SDK
schwe-queaky? no. Just lots of words;-) Now a new way to share them. Congrats.
Two things for my new "listening" audience. First, I realize that you can hear me thinking while I'm talking. Result: I speak slowly, drawing the thoughts out. Since this pattern is not new, it's obvious that a lot of you have been extraordinarily patient with me these past several decades. Thank you.
Second, I have been informed that RadioLounge's podcasts aren't quite genuine podcasts - yet. Something to do with the RSS feed. Since I don't quite grasp what that is, I'll have to wait for Bruce Abbott (the one on the bottom) to 'splain it to me. However, he says RadioLounge will truly be podcasting this coming Monday. Meantime, you can save the audio file, drag it to your computer, and listen to it on whatever player you use.
Next week, I'll be discussing a another cutting-edge technology, the "printing press," with its German inventor.
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