CHALLENGE
A surge in on-demand audio content was seeing Indians adopt podcasts as a category. However, overall number of listeners was still low, as was the consumption per listener. Therefore, the need for this global leader was to unlock and drive growth of the podcast opportunity in India by deepening penetration and consumption, and making them the preferred podcast platform.
APPROACH
Simply searching for ‘non-users’ is like groping in the dark, so we defined ‘High Potential Triers’ as those ‘Aware of Podcasts’ and with an affinity for audio content. Rather than simply study podcasts, we sought to understand the culture & meaning around spoken word and its meaning in life. We also observed non-video entertainment and knowledge needs, the so called ‘phone down’ moments, and also ‘placed podcasts,’ and got non-users to try it for a week.
IMPACT
Our learnings identified that the category lacked urgency and cultural meaning/ attractiveness and wasn’t able to help consumers discover its content superstars. It was not rewarding enough and was a struggle to know how to fit into life. Heavy listeners, on the other hand, saw it as a space for enlightenment. This led to the successful communication around ‘Podcast Pe Suna’ – positioning Podcasts as a site for practical knowledge. A complete blueprint for growth among Potential Listeners was delivered, including a number of product re-design initiatives that emerged.
