In Your Ear

Why companies from Casper to Prudential are creating their own branded podcasts.

- Jeff Beer

As podcasting grows— 57 million Americans tuned in to at least one a month last year, up 23% from 2015—so do the marketing opportunities the medium presents. Moving beyond simply sponsoring a few episodes (“Mail . . . kimp?”), brands such as State Farm and Slack are getting increasingly involved by creating podcasts of their own. GE’s breakout eightepisode radio drama, The Message, topped more than 5 million downloads and hit No. 1 on the iTunes chart in 2015. The company followed up with last year’s AI-focused drama Life- After. “People are making a very conscious choice—to down load a podcast, subscribe, and listen,” says Alexa Chris ton, GE’s head of media innovation. “That [kind of] relationship is something brands covet.”