Podcasts gaining corporate cred

Podcasts are gaining in credibility as legitimate business communication tools according to several big-name tech companies.

No longer the domain of opinionated punters or media-types; podcasts are now being used by companies such as NetApp, Cisco and Apple to communicate to staff, partners, end-users and investors.

According to NetApp Australia marketing manager, Mark Heers, the vendor was now regularly using podcasts to convey financial information and messages from the CEO to staff.

“Typically podcasts are about one topic, they are a short, crisp message,” he said. “They are much more effective versus something like a presentation which doesn’t [come across well] as audio.”

Cisco Australia spokesperson, Peter Witts, said the local division was now looking to follow its US parent in its offering its own podcasts as part of a “unified messaging approach.”

“Working people have to have a choice as to where and when they get their information; that’s the way it’s going,” he said.

Businesses also needed to look at them as useful recruiting tools, Witts said.

“In terms of demographics, if you don’t have a Podcast or RSS feed, then chances of reaching and attracting talent – such as a 25 year-old IT skills engineer – dramatically falls,” he said.

Unsurprisingly, Apple Australia marketing manager, Rob Small, confirmed the hardware vendor was also using podcasts internally. However, these were currently confined to specific ends.

“We use them for training purposes,” he said. “Lots of companies are using podcasts [as evidenced] on the podcast directory in iTunes.”

IDC research director, telecommunications and consumer, Landry Fevre, said its almost becoming mainstream for companies to have podcast features on as part of their communications.”

“It always starts with geeks in the IT industry, but [podcasts] are increasingly broad in scope,” he said. “It’s just another way to deliver content whether it’s to employees or shareholders.”

Fevre said with the growth in broadband adoption and sites like youtube.com., video podcasts, or v-casts, were emerging as the next step in converged communications.

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