Data released earlier this year by the BBC, Ofcom and RAJAR showed that podcast listening hours in the UK increased by 139% between 2018 and 2023.

Last week, MHP’s Director of Earned Media James Rollinson was joined by a stellar panel of guests to discuss the rise of podcasts and what it means for brands. Ellie Clifford, Head of Content at Persephonica, Robert Abel, Head of Commercial Audio Strategy at The Guardian, and Mike Wooller, Deputy Head of Podcasts at DMG Media chatted in depth about the evolving space, including how listeners are now engaging with podcasts, the role they can play within integrated marketing strategies and where they can provide the most value for brands.

Six key takeaways from the discussion:

Podcasts are “the friend in your ear”.
With so many now listening to podcasts – whether for entertainment or as a preferred news source – consumers are spending more time with them than speaking to their closest friends. This has led to a rise of increasingly longer formats, with podcasts of 4 hours+ increasingly common, allowing for greater nuance and debate.

Trust is key for brand endorsements.
Hosts of popular shows have built a level of trust with their audiences that other media formats simply cannot achieve. As many listeners feel that they know the hosts on a personal level, advertisements, and brand endorsements can feel much more authentic than when delivered by other channels.

Podcast listeners are diverse.
When podcasts first started gaining popularity in the late 2000s, Rob said that listenership was mostly ‘middle class hipsters living in Hoxton. Today audiences are much more diverse, with regular listeners spanning from Gen Z through to Baby Boomers, encompassing people from all ethnic and socio economics backgrounds.

Podcasts are changing the way we engage with politics.
In the future the recent US election could reasonably become known as ‘the podcast election’, with Donald Trump and Kamala Harris conducting interviews with The Joe Rogan Experience and Call Her Daddy respectively. Following Kier Starmer’s appearance on Football Weekly, could live TV debates be replaced by podcasts as the most significant media engagements at the next election?

Guests must be willing to engage.
Podcasts are not a passive form of media, requiring effort from the host and guest(s) to make an episode into something people want to listen to. Even on more ‘serious’ podcasts, guests should be encouraged to enter into the wider debate rather than repeating 2-3 key messages that they might do on a more traditional TV or radio interview.

There is still room for new shows.
Despite the array of shows growing exponentially over the past decade, the panel agreed that there is still space for new, exciting shows. This goes for branded opportunities too, with Dish highlighted as a brilliant example of a brand-sponsored show that has fostered a loyal following without feeling overly commercialised.

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