Fairfax Media has revealed the results of Decoding Genius, a bespoke podcast series (along with a content campaign) for GE created by its brand and content studio, MADE, and it’s done pretty darn well.
Decoding Genius is a six-part podcast series investigating the stories of six young geniuses unearthed in Australia and around the world.
These geniuses include Mitchell Clark, who at the age of 17 runs an IT business with 230 clients; Dr Jordan Nguyen, a biomedical engineer who built a mind-controlled wheelchair, and; Ian Zelich, a 17-year-old maths genius who has an IQ of 180.
Decoding Genius has secured 142,000 downloads* and continues to climb. It was also ranked in the Apple Store’s top 10 podcasts in its first week after launch, was the number one podcast in the iTunes Arts category for the duration of the campaign, and remains in the top 10 of this category.
Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive to for the podcast series too, with an overall five-star rating.
In order to engage listeners, MADE produced a content series about the podcast, which was produced in collaboration with Macquarie Media and amplified across the digital channels of Fairfax and GE.
The six-part podcast series campaign ran from 27 October until 5 December 2016, and was recently shortlisted for the prestigious INMA (International News Media Association) Global Media Awards for Best Marketing Solution for an Advertising Client, with the winners announced in New York in May.
Kate Cox, editorial director at MADE, said the podcast series reinforced GE’s brand positioning as one of the world’s most innovative companies in a unique and creative way.
“It’s a great example of the sort of high-quality, bespoke and immersive experiences Fairfax can achieve for brands by leveraging our content creation resources and expertise,” she said.
“With more than 20 per cent of Australians regularly listening to podcasts**, it’s an exciting time for brands to utilise this expanding medium.
“Podcasting provides a marketing channel for brands to engage with audiences on a deeper and more empathetic level, and the results of this latest branded series for GE show that when brands tell an exceptional story, people will listen.”
GE’s Australia and New Zealand director of communications, Joanne Woo, said: “As a brand, we like to experiment with innovative ways to tell our stories and interact with audiences. We try to be among the first to pioneer new channels and platforms – from podcasts to virtual reality.
“We’re thrilled with the success we’ve seen with the Decoding Genius podcast series. It just goes to show that stories of invention, innovation and creativity really resonate with Australians – and the world.”
Sources:
* Whooshkaa Webplayer, Analytics Report, 12th February 2017.
**emma (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) data, Ipsos MediaCT, people 14+ for the 12 months ending September 2016
