Branding your podcast is far more than a logo

A logo is perhaps where it may start, but not where it ends.

I’ve been reviewing Podcasts the last couple of weeks and thinking about the phrase ‘branding your podcast’ and what that means. The one thing that has stood out is how hopeless some of us can be at understanding brand. That may sound cruel because some have never entertained brand identity as being anything other than a logo.

However, it was on occasion painful to see how a really good podcast didn’t tell me what I could find inside from its logo, or its cover images. In some cases the podcast name got lost in with another brand entirely. There was one where I really had to hunt for the Podcast because it was just lost in a contra taunt of mismatched images and 3 logo’s, each markedly different, and all for one brand.

To keep this simple…

First – think about your listener and the brands you share with them – the brand you are similar to, the family of brands you would like to sit within. Your brand needs to reflect the listeners own brand values.

This is what you say, how you say it, how it is displayed in every form – from audio to image, on screen in print.

Logo – Keep your logo the same everywhere, except for use within a style guide. This means you can use your logo in a number of different design set-ups. However the logo must remain true to itself throughout each of these uses, and be strict about its use – create a style guide and stick to it.

Fonts – Create a family of fonts that you always use. Add this to your style guide and never stray into other fonts.

Strapline and USP Message –  I ordinarily use the power of three in my USP message alongside a main lead in text line.  Therefore – ‘Learn the skills of the Radio Industry’ is our lead in line and ‘Create POWERFUL Podcasts’ is our three line USP message.  I have also used the word ‘Unlock’ instead of ‘Learn’.  Think of a message in a single sentence with a three word out that links to your brand.

Images – Choose a style of image you want to represent your brand. Close ups, blurred, edgy and so on. Think about what your listener would expect from you. Remember it is the brand of you that your listener follows. Try to imagine what they expect form you.

Copy – Do you write how you speak as a Podcast. Think about the words you use within your Podcast and reflect these in your copy text. If you are ‘Hey man, how you doing’ or ‘Hello, how are you’ or even ‘Whasup Bro, you dig’ then you need to be like that in your copy text.

Sound – Your sound needs to reflect this brand feel too. This is that if you are edgy then you need an edgy image pack designed for your podcast production. That means the music needs to be edgy, the voice over needs to be different, not smooth but with a level of timbre that provides edge. Again think about how your brand sounds up against the brand family of your listener. Consider sonic logos in sound… an audio version of your logo in just music – think Microsoft, Intel Inside for sonic ‘3’ tones.

You’ll need to add all this, and more, together to start creating a brand. I was marketing manager for the launch of several radio brands and we didn’t always get it right. In addition I’m still working on the Radio Skills Brand. It all develops over time, but to understand the basic principles will help you go along way.

In the end a brand is formed by the people who use it, therefore when considering branding your podcast you should perhaps listen to your customer.