In the last session of the course Media Marketing the guest speaker Alexander Wunschel aka “PodPimp”, hold an interesting presentation on podcasting. Alexander himself is is a podcaster freelance marketing and media consultant, speaker, and social media marketer from Munich, Germany. Moreover he is the CEO of the Marketing-Club Muenchen e.V with clients that include well-known companies such as MSN Germany, Starbucks, ARD a German TV station, and the HypoVereinsbank. He helps these organizations to incorporate new communication channels which also include podcasting in their marketing concept. His marketing weblog is http://www.pimpyourbrain.de which he launched in 2005 and which includes expert interviews about marketing trends, methods and techniques. In addition to the business podcast “Der Blick ueber den Tellerrand”, stating the current podcasting-trends in business, marketing and communication.
In his online presentation at the California International Business University Wunschel explained that podcasting is a synonym which is set together from the words IPod and broadcasting. It is as series of audio or video digital media files which are distributed over the Internet by syndicated download, through Web feeds, to portable media players and personal computers. Though the same content may also be made available by direct download or streaming, a podcast is distinguished from most other digital media formats by its ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded automatically when new content is added. Wunschel stated that there are different types of podcasts like an enhanced podcasts pictures mixed with an audio file, like the Bruno Bondi Show. Bayer for instance is offering a podcast with information about new products or answer question. Since 2005 Itunes for instance is one of the biggest sources for podcasts but also individuals do podcasts like a wine fan that test wine. Since people believe him and his opinion since he is real and trust wortyh people are more likely to buy the wine in his own store. For further information have a look on the follwing web page http://www.podcasting-tools.com/what-is-podcasting.htm.
Wunschel stated that the secret of success in podcasting is in building up a community that is willing to listen to the podcasts. Only the mass enables podcasters to earn money through the use of advertisements from companies. The amount of podcasts is rising every day. Ttherefore it is necessary for organizations to understand how to create a trustful real podcast and realize the potential which a podcast generates. Nevertheless it is a hard job to develop a community. Alexander Wunschel took almost three years to get that far and to win some people that wanted to listen to him. However podcasting reaches thousands of people that listen or watch podcasts, it has a lot of limitations and more advance technological competitor. It is not designed to reach millions of people like TV advertising is able to. Nevertheless it is an advisable approach for niche markets, niche products or niche companies to promote their products. Even though podcasting will never be the most frequently used marketing approach since it does not reach that many people, it continuously gains in importance. For instance Podcasting becomes more and more an educational medium and constantly popular for students. Surprisingly recent studies have revealed that students that listen or watch lecture on podcasts on a regular bases perform better than their fellow students that are attending classes.
