The article discusses companies focusing on offering podcasts for cellular phones, including Pod2Mobile, Melodeo’s Mobilcast network and a new company, UpSnap (see below).
“With UpSnap, which launched 100 free mobile podcasts on March 27, you can simply dial a number to listen to your program from your phone,” the article says.
“In a few weeks, the service will also allow users to get podcasts to their phones wirelessly by sending UpSnap a text message. Rival Pod2Mob allows for the text message feature and has built a user base in excess of 100,000 since its launch last summer.”
Podcast advertising
Business Week says the domain name seller of GoDaddy is interested in exploring advertising over podcasts. Barbara Rechterman, the executive vice president of GoDaddy says in the article, “The cell phone will become the next podcast-listening device.”
For the past two months the independent music retailer of CD Baby has been advertising on podcasts over cellular phones. CD Baby has been running 15–second commercials with its $1,000–a-month ad budget. That’s half of its advertising budget.
Derek Sivers, CD Baby’s owner, says in the article that the commercials’ results “are right in line with traditional advertising. And I just like the idea of targeting people who are online already and interested in listening to MP3 files. That's our target market.”
Better ads on cellular?
Business Week suggests that ads on cellular phones could be more interesting and generate a greater response that ads for non-cellular broadcasts.
The article says, “As with a video iPod, a cell phone ad can feature audio, graphics, or video. With a phone, though, a user can immediately respond by calling a marketer's call center or by wirelessly surfing the advertiser's Web site.”
It will be interesting to see whether consumers accept ads on wireless podcasts. Since you’re typically listening to a wireless podcast for a shorter time than when you’re sitting in an office, on a plane or in a hotel room, the ads should be, perhaps, shorter.
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