Author Topic: Advertising  (Read 10826 times)

FNH

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on: January 17, 2007, 08:57:14 PM
Am I right in assuming that any Advertising on "tha pod" comes with a recommendation from SE himself?


SFEley

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Reply #1 on: January 17, 2007, 09:42:47 PM
Am I right in assuming that any Advertising on "tha pod" comes with a recommendation from SE himself?

Mostly, yes.  The last couple of campaigns we did -- for Dreaming Mind and Fundable Films -- were individuals who contacted me and whose products I really liked.  The Invasion campaign from late summer came from a podcast advertising agency, and I didn't know that much about it.

I cannot say for sure what the future will hold.  But I can tell you this: if I say directly in the podcast, "I'm familiar with this product and I really like it," I am telling the truth.  I won't offer a personal endorsement unless I mean it.

ESCAPE POD - The Science Fiction Podcast Magazine


Brian Reilly

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Reply #2 on: January 20, 2007, 11:28:53 AM
I wouldn't have a problem with an ad appearing at the beginning of every EP. Anything that helps keep this going is fine by me. I don't think having a 30-second ad every show would change the podcast.

What I do dislike is having Steve read out ads. I'd rather have canned ads, to be honest. I want to know what is content and what is an ad.

Maybe this is a cultural thing- presenters or DJs reading out ads on the radio isn't common over here, but seems to be more of an American thing (I associate it with Public Radio).

The 21st Century is when it all changes, and you’ve gotta be ready- Captain Jack, Torchwood.


Russell Nash

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Reply #3 on: January 20, 2007, 06:59:23 PM
I wouldn't have a problem with an ad appearing at the beginning of every EP. Anything that helps keep this going is fine by me. I don't think having a 30-second ad every show would change the podcast.

What I do dislike is having Steve read out ads. I'd rather have canned ads, to be honest. I want to know what is content and what is an ad.

Maybe this is a cultural thing- presenters or DJs reading out ads on the radio isn't common over here, but seems to be more of an American thing (I associate it with Public Radio).

I agree with this, but I think when Steve really likes something (Dreaming Minds is an excellent example) it is more pleasant when he does the ad himself.



Bdoomed

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Reply #4 on: January 20, 2007, 07:34:14 PM
i actually like it better when steve reads it, it seems more personal and genuine, not just an annoying ad.  if i were more of a writer id get a dreaming minds book.  steve really seems to like em!

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Russell Nash

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Reply #5 on: January 20, 2007, 09:19:14 PM
i actually like it better when steve reads it, it seems more personal and genuine, not just an annoying ad.  if i were more of a writer id get a dreaming minds book.  steve really seems to like em!

My point exactly, but you could tell he wasn't really a fan of Invasion. Which is why that one would have been better as a seperately produced ad.



Ryuujin

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Reply #6 on: January 22, 2007, 12:10:04 PM
I always found advertising for stuff a great problem. I don't like to support anything in favor for something else because there are other alternatives out there which are just as good.

But if you have to do advertising, do it properly: Eg. no viral advertising. Make people interested in the good way rather than the bad way.

That's my two pennies worth of opinion.



Thaurismunths

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Reply #7 on: January 23, 2007, 05:13:47 PM
EP needs money to operate, and that money should come from those of us who use the service. But we know, that's not always practical. If the powers that be of Escape Pod prefer/use/support a product or service, and can get paid to talk about it, more power to them. If they are swayed or coerced in to promoting a product, I'd much rather hear something canned than have the host's promotional integrity devalued.
Though, above all, I just want to keep EP going.

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


FNH

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Reply #8 on: January 23, 2007, 10:21:33 PM
Canned add are just noise and interference.  I would rather do without.

As to Steve reading adds, no way that sucks like a sucky thing.

However, I will gladly listen to Steve "advertising" if its a personal reccomendation and not some scripted tosh.  The reason I feel like this?  Escape Pod and Steve feel like friends, thats a factor of the personal "In My Ears" podcast listening.  The intros where Steve shares his life and feelings enforce that friendship feeling.

I listen to my friends if they make recommendations, I listen to Steve, but if he goes Scripted-Commercial I'll stop listening to what he's saying, it'll just become noise and interference.

I listened to the recent Journal-Book advertising with interest and thought of it as a personal recommendation.

Hope that's clear.



smartbombradio

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Reply #9 on: January 24, 2007, 08:52:26 AM
If the show ever gets like television in terms of the ads, that would be bad, but even Scott Sigler, who probably has the most ads of any "Indie" cast on the air, has less than 3 minutes of commercials for a 45 minute show.  Hell NPR has more "Non Show" content then that.  So while I'm not a fan of advertising, if I'm getting a 45 minute program at the cost of 60 seconds of my time sold to someone else, thats a pretty good deal for me.  Remember that in a perfect world we want these guys to be able to quit their day jobs and dedicate all their time to delivering us our entertainment fix.

So like most posters here, I don't want Steve saying "I really love Crazy Jack's Widgets!" if he really only uses Crazy Steve's Widgets, but a canned commercial or a real endorsement, or even a read commercial without that "I use it every day!" vibe are all fine by me.


Russell Nash

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Reply #10 on: January 24, 2007, 10:39:39 AM
Remember that in a perfect world we want these guys to be able to quit their day jobs and dedicate all their time to delivering us our entertainment fix.

That's my point exactly. I see the start of a media company here and if it costs me 60 seconds an episode, so be it.



dreamingmind

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Reply #11 on: January 24, 2007, 04:58:52 PM
As a regular listener, I too worry about the future of the EscapePod experience and how ads effect it. One of the attractive elements of EP for me is Steve's commentary before and after. These are a most welcome warm-up and cool-down for me. Hearing a canned ad glommed on to one end or the other would not enhance my experience.

Another characteristic of EP that helped cement my regular listener status is that EP is a paying market. That's doing it the right way (and the hard way) in my opinion. This is what made me decide I wanted to be a supporter.

Of course, I could have used the Donate button to show my support so why did I choose to become an advertiser instead?

First, I thought there was nice irony to advertising hand bound books on a digital story feed.

Second, my business keeps me pinching pennies and I can support EP at a much higher level when my support both serves as a tax write off and can generate further income for me. It may not be pretty, but running something as fringy as a hand book bindery has taught me that I either have to shoot the angles or throw in the towel.

These were my reasons, but I knew regular advertising might change the EP experience. I had heard the Invasion ad and the responses to it. I hadn't had any strong negative response to it myself. I also tried to imagine I was "any listener" hearing the EscapePod Dreaming Mind pairing, would this sound right? I knew if the ad sounded wrong in the format, there would not be much hope of it being an effective use of my money and would not, in the end, help EscapePod. It felt ok to me. I decided to toss the dice.

I really don't expect (or want) people to support Dreaming Mind because they support EscapePod (as Ryuujin describes). EP deserves your direct support. And hopefully, some people will also want my products!

Long live EscapePod!

Regards,
Don Drake
Dreaming Mind Bindery



Thaurismunths

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Reply #12 on: January 24, 2007, 08:18:27 PM
Not to mention; being active in the forums is a great way to ensure confidence in possible customers who have a taste for hand bound journals.

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


smartbombradio

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Reply #13 on: January 25, 2007, 12:56:26 AM

These were my reasons, but I knew regular advertising might change the EP experience. I had heard the Invasion ad and the responses to it. I hadn't had any strong negative response to it myself. I also tried to imagine I was "any listener" hearing the EscapePod Dreaming Mind pairing, would this sound right? I knew if the ad sounded wrong in the format, there would not be much hope of it being an effective use of my money and would not, in the end, help EscapePod. It felt ok to me. I decided to toss the dice.

I really don't expect (or want) people to support Dreaming Mind because they support EscapePod (as Ryuujin describes). EP deserves your direct support. And hopefully, some people will also want my products!

Long live EscapePod!

Regards,
Don Drake
Dreaming Mind Bindery

I think there is more concern about "Invasion" than Dreaming Minds.  We can all see teh sexy journal that Steve writes in in his Writing Journal page.  In fact, if I wasn't a page tearer I'd get one myself (I write at work then take the pages home, I've got probably 50 sheets of mini notebook paper strewn around my desk right now with stories, sketches and podcast episodes.)