Podcasting Sexism?
Read with interest a recent study that claims podcast listeners were young technology savvy males. It's interesting because the reports seem to signal the deathknell of podcasts in much the same way as they did back in 1996 for the arrival of the internet. And we know how that story went. What I like about Podcasts are their versatility – pointcast to the level of the individuals needs or tastes for one. Portability (and I've talked a lot about the joys of advertising to people in captive situations as they watch cellphone tv on the bus or train), scalability as well, guerilla marketers love this stuff – my favorite at the moment is of course WOOT's podcasts which feature the deal of the day. I dont know why I like them so much, I guess it appeals to my sense of humor. Check them out, you'll be a convert. Of course ultimately there are push versus pull issues here which are the ultimate reason why we should be interested in them, marketers have tried and fail at pushing messages to consumers (look at our wonderful system of TV ads), give them the reason to look actively for them (as they do with mainstream web browsing and searching for information) and you have a much more effective campaign. Not convinced? would you be interested in listening to a podcast from Steve Jobs on the virtues of installing Vista on all Macs from 2008? Thought so…
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I reckon females would be picking up on the podcasting trend soon. Recently, Iconique (http://www.iconique.com) my favorite fashion editorial site has added in a IPOD section which features pictorial season previews … etc. its pretty spacticular although there is room for improvement. The direct link for their podding section is http://www.iconique.com/flash/podcast.php
On a different note, Amsterdam International Fashion week has plans to implement a podcast system covering the whole event, http://www.amsterdamfashionweek.com/
And, Karl Lagerfeld (wooo hoo) debut his fall/winter 06′ show via Podcast. Which was spectacular.. (http://www.karllagerfeld.com/)
I reckon its only a matter of time before the whole fashion world starts podcasting
thing with advertising on television and product placement is that each product is on a unique program which has inherent value. Not everyone can make a film and market it (same for tv, magazines)
Podcasts on the other hand, anyone can do one. So the market for them is bound to be cluttered.
A new avenue yes but fraught with its own set of problems, chiefly – quality, distribution, USP.