Narrative podcast

The shape of it

Each episode is reported and scripted, with interviews, a narrator and sound design. The season has an arc, so the first episode sets up a question the finale answers and every episode in between has its own payoff.

eBay's Open for Business, made with Gimlet Creative, followed people building businesses, with a second season in spring 2017 (Apple Podcasts). McDonald's The Sauce, made with Studio@Gizmodo and Onion Labs, was a three-episode investigation into a promotion that went wrong (Marketing Dive, February 2018). Both chose a subject with its own pull.

Where the brand sits

The brand chooses the subject and opens doors to the people in it. Its name sits in the show's title or presenting credit and in a short read at the start of each episode, while the story stays with what the listener came for.

How we make it

Narrative audio is the most writing-heavy format we make. Development includes research, a season outline and a full pilot script. Production covers interviews, narration, editing and music, followed by a final mix for podcast apps.

Where it runs

We publish to podcast apps with a trailer ahead of the first episode, and to YouTube as audio with a designed visual, or as a filmed version if the series includes on-camera interviews.

How it is measured

We report consumption rate, follows, completion across the season and a brand lift survey. Signal Hill Insights names three yardsticks for branded podcasts: retention, total listen time and brand lift studies (Signal Hill Insights). We agree all three with the brand before recording.

When another format fits better

If the brand wants to be seen as well as heard, or wants to reach people on YouTube first, start with a video podcast or a creator-hosted series and cut the audio from it.