My Open Kimono

"ALRIGHT MR. DEMILLE, I’M READY FOR MY CLOSEUP "

Corporate America is taking to broadcasts in a big way. Only today, the broadcasts are in the form of Podcasts.

Downloadable, portable and easy to create, companies the likes of General Motors and IBM are penning podcast strategies for both internal and external communication needs.

Internally they are used for information delivery, training and educational aids. Externally they create a viral buzz about a product or service. They are quick to produce and are timely. Attached to a feedback blog, they can communicate with global teams without confining time zone boundaries.

Increasingly, these companies are building their own well-equipped sound studios for as little as $10,000 with quality output.

By 2010, estimates put the number of Americans playing podcasts at a conservative 57 million, over 20% of the adult US population.

Corporate America must be mindful that podcasts and blogs need to allow room for both restrained content control and freedom of expression without turning the user “off” to a product or service. The corporate voice is not as trusted as the individual voice in this environment.