Podcasting Goes High-Production: Cognos BI Radio

If you know the people behind BI Radio, the series of thematic podcasts from Cognos, the maker of business intelligence and performance management software, the name should come as no surprise. Two of the three producers have radio backgrounds.

But there is a lot more behind the metaphor than that. BI Radio is a series of “programs,” each with a theme, that contain three segments offering different views on the overall theme. For example, a program about leadership contained a segment with a leadership book author, another with a leadership consultant, and a case study segment about supply chain leadership.

All of the programs have one thing in common, however: high production values. There is a professional announcer, smooth mixing of sound elements like music, and quick-cut voice clips-even commercials. Though this all may seem anathema to the casual DIY heritage of the Internet, the slick production serves everyones needs. Listeners get consistency and a certain sense of comfort that the podcasts will meet the kinds of basic expectations that they have had for decades from radio and television productions. For Cognos, it is a way to further the company’s quality brand image and do a little targeted marketing through the commercials. This high-quality strategy is a real departure from conventional thinking about podcasting-one that all marketers should consider.

When Commercials Seem Natural

Indeed, the production values are so high that listeners almost expect commercials. Whereas in a typical rough-cut podcast a commercial would seem out of place and jarring, when mixed with the skills of a professionally trained radio engineer and musician like Cognos’ Derek Schraner, it all fits and doesn’t test listeners’ patience. Nor does the length of the individual segment: None is more than 9 minutes, and the packaged show (which is more popular among downloaders than the individual segments) is never longer than 30 minutes.

Gaining listeners’ permission to market directly in a podcast is important because hard ROI is difficult to prove for Web 2.0 in general and for podcasts in particular. BI Radio has more than 80,000 RSS subscribers and has seen more than 2,000 downloads of programs since it launched in early 2007. Although RSS feeds are next to impossible to link directly to sales, the benefits of BI Radio are real, says Delaney Turner, manager of Product and Solutions Communications for Cognos and one of the show’s contributing producers. It increases brand awareness, demonstrates industry innovation and thought leadership, and increases visits to the company’s main Website. “BI Radio is very influential in keeping people in the conversation with Cognos,” says Turner. “It’s another tool that business development representatives can use to move a prospect to the next stage and keep people engaged.”

Cheaper Than Video

The professionally produced program does not require a huge investment from Cognos. The show’s minimal equipment is in a converted storage closet at Cognos headquarters and is produced by three staffers who have other primary responsibilities.

Furthermore, it leverages work that Turner and Kelsey Howarth, another contributing producer and manager of Content and Multimedia at Cognos, were already doing: interviewing internal and external authors, consultants, and customers to develop thought leadership articles, case studies, and other marketing materials for Cognos. BI Radio also requires much less investment than the next step up in interactive media: videocasts.

Planning Is Critical

But it does require investments in planning-and passion. “BI Radio is a labor of love for us,” says Howarth. “Companies don’t have to spend a lot of money to do this well, but they do need to do good thinking about content and presentation.” The team holds weekly meetings during which they post potential content on a “big wall of ideas” that is loosely organized under three main topics: IT, Finance, and Industries. The team moves sticky notes around on the wall until a theme emerges. Or it lets themes emerge from within the organization-an upcoming user conference, for example.

Pacing and Variety

Though the team strives for high quality in the podcast production, it does not want the shows to be perfect. “Listeners know instinctively when something is overly produced,” says Schraner. “When speakers hear their own voice they can become self conscious and they want it cleaned up and made perfect. But if you pull everything out of it-every breath, every little break or flaw in their voice-it becomes too perfect and it’s uncomfortable to listen to. When I was in school they would say, ‘If you have no breathing in your voice, people will lose their breath as they listen.’”

Pacing is also extremely important to a successful podcast, says Schraner. “When I look at the waveforms in my audio editing software, if I see too much of a certain tone or style, I start cutting, because I have this thing about variety,” he says. “I want the listener to keep hearing something different fairly frequently. Whether it’s mixing up male and female voices, music versus voice, or bringing in different speakers, I really feel there’s a kind of innate need to keep things changing.”

Indeed, that is the challenge facing all marketing podcasters: keeping things fresh over the long haul. “It’s difficult to maintain consistency after something is no longer new and bright and shiny,” says Howarth. “A good podcast isn’t just two people talking on the phone. You really need to think about the content, the message, the length, and you really need to plan ahead.”

To read a Q&A interview with the BI Radio team about the secrets of good podcasting, please visit 18’s blog at http://chriskoch.wordpress.com.

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