Is Your Brand Missing Out?

This post is part of a larger series looking at missed opportunities in podcasting for brands. In this series, I challenge brands to expand their perception of podcast listeners, moving us beyond the “stereotypical podcast listener” to explore the diverse audiences who are actually consuming podcasts. In this week’s post, we’re exploring the international podcast opportunity, especially in non-English markets. 

What’s the most viewed podcast episode on YouTube? 

Go on, take a guess. 

Be honest, you immediately thought of that prolific Joe Rogan episode where a cringe-worthy Elon Musk takes an awkward drag of Rogan’s spliff, didn’t you? 

Well, you can breathe a sigh of relief. That is, in fact, not the most viewed podcast episode of all time. Actually, it’s not a Joe Rogan episode at all. And it’s not even close. 

The most viewed podcast of all time is a 3-hour Arabic episode of a Saudi Arabian podcast about building healthy relationships. The episode of Fnjan currently has over 125 million views on YouTube– nearly double Joe Rogan’s episode with Musk. 

What’s the takeaway? Sometimes we in the English-speaking world can be a little (okay, a lot) self-absorbed. But the reality is that podcast listening is growing rapidly in the non-English speaking world. And this presents a huge opportunity for brands. 

The English-Language Bias in Podcasting

While English-speakers do tend to live in our own little bubble, large media companies have placed a huge emphasis on creating content for American audiences. This is largely due to the outsized potential for advertising revenue (the US not only has a large population, but also notoriously spends more on advertising than any other country). Because of this, podcasts in other languages have been a little slower to get to market. 

But when content becomes available in local languages, people do listen. There’s no better example of this than French Canada. 

Vive le Podcast!

French Canadians are notoriously resistant to consuming content in English (or even France-French). And because less than 25% of Canada’s population are Francophone, it took awhile before there was a wealth of French Canadian podcasts available (though, I would be remiss if I didn’t note that there are some very successful independent Francophone podcasts that have been around since the early days of podcasting). 

Podcast listening amongst French Canadians lagged behind English listening for years. Signal Hill Insight’s annual Canadian Podcast Listener Report has consistently shown this major gap between English and French listening (at its worst in 2020, with a 13 point difference). 

But in recent years, French Canada’s podcast listening has boomed. In the last three years, monthly listening in French Canada has grown by 65% (English listening, on the other hand, has started to plateau). 

This is largely due to a significant increase in French Canadian programming. As more podcasts have become available for Francophones, more Francophones have tuned in. The most recent Canadian Podcast Listener report revealed that Canadians are listening to more Canadian podcasts than American podcasts for the first time since the study’s inception– likely due to the large influx of French Canadian podcasts being consumed now (the Canadian podcasts at the top of the charts in Canada are almost all French now). 

Smaller Market, Bigger Impact

The whole idea for this blog post began percolating last summer when I was at a conference in Copenhagen. I had never really spent much time thinking about podcasting in Denmark. But as I was preparing my presentation for an audience made up of marketers from largely non-English speaking European countries, I began thinking about what branded podcasting must look like in those countries. 

The thing with podcasting in Danish is that Denmark has a tiny population. I mean, look, Canadians are always getting hung up on the fact that our population is so tiny (smaller than the state of California, if you didn’t know!) But compared to Denmark’s 6 million people, Canada’s 40 million looks pretty huge. Danish is not a language spoken by very many people. If you’re a podcast company creating content that will be monetized via advertising, there’s not much opportunity to create a podcast in Danish that will achieve enough scale to even break even. The Danish-speaking population is too small for that. 

But for a brand looking to penetrate the Danish market, there’s still a huge opportunity here. For example, one of the podcasts at the top of the Danish Apple Business charts is a branded podcast. Børssnak is a weekly Danish podcast from Saxo Bank with 10-minute long episodes diving into current topics that impact both Danish and international markets– a strategy that makes perfect sense for a Danish investment bank looking to reach lots of Danish investors. 

Another example is Fuhlendorff på mission: BLIV OFFICER, a podcast from the Danish military hosted by a comedian and designed to attract new recruits to the Danish forces. While the show caused some controversy after Denmark attempted to claim the costs as part of their national military spending (a charming controversy for those of us used to very different types of military spending controversies), the podcast is an example of a how a Danish organization can fill a gap in programming for Danish citizens and break through to reach them. 

The English podcast market is over-saturated and it can be difficult for brands to break through. Non-English speaking markets (especially those with smaller populations) face programming gaps. Private companies attempting to monetize podcasts in these smaller markets face a huge challenge of scale. Brands who are simply looking to reach a large market share (not monetize their downloads) have an opportunity to fill that programming gap, and build huge brand affinity with listeners who don’t have as many options of shows to listen to. 

500,000 downloads of a podcast is generally not enough to break even on a podcast production. But 500,000 downloads of a Danish podcast is equal to 10% market penetration. And that is huge for a brand.

Think Globally

This strategy isn’t just for local brands. It’s a strategy that all global brands need to be thinking about. 

For example, Morgan Stanley identified a huge opportunity to further their business in Japan by launching a local version of their very popular daily podcast, Thoughts on the Market. This provides them the opportunity to connect with a new audience, and positions them as a brand focused on serving the Japanese market. With less competition for attention in these non-English speaking markets, it’s easier to stand out and reach an eager audience ready to listen!

How Do I Pull It Off?

Launching a podcast in another market is not as simple as simply translating your existing podcast. Sure, there are AI tools that can provide a one-to-one translation of any podcast with a robot voice. But this won’t be effective in resonating with your target audience. 

At a panel at Advertising Week New York 2024 about going global with podcasting, leaders dove into the difference between translation and trans-creation. Rather than just translating word-for-word, “trans-creation” refers to adapting content in a way that resonates culturally. 

This is important because different communication styles resonate in different places. The example given at this Advertising Week panel was advertising in Germany compared to Southern Europe: While German audiences prefer to-the-point and informative ads, Southern European audiences resonate more with emotional and story-led messaging. 

Regional accents, cultural differences, and local relevance are all important to consider when planning to adapt your podcasts for non-English markets. 

Conclusion

It might be difficult (or impossible)  to monetize podcasts in smaller, non-English markets (at least without the support of a public broadcaster). That leaves a big programming gap in these markets– which presents a major opportunity for brands. While lots of global brands might have focused their attention on English markets thus far, there has never been a better time to expand their reach and make a big impact on the international stage. 

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