sports

How To Make A Podcast Ad – and How NOT To

By JAGinDetroit on April 26, 2019

Ways To Make A Podcast Ad?

Truthfully, there are a number of ways to make a podcast ad. You can insert a prerecorded, already-produced commercial in your show. And if you can make money doing it, great!

You can read a script verbatim from a commercial sponsor. Again, if you can make money at it, well, vaya con dios.

The the truth is, however, the most effective podcast ads are the same as the most effective radio ads – the live read, or endorsement. This is when the host tells you, in his or her own words, about a particular product, service, or establishment. Audio is an intimate medium; think about how connected you felt to your favorite morning show personality when you heard them on the school bus or in the car. If that trusted voice tells you about a company, it will carry much more weight than the guy from production reading a script. (I should know, I read many scripts in my various off-air roles in radio.)

Why Advertise on Podcasts?

Edison Research’s annual Infinite Dial for 2019 shows that more than half of podcast listeners are at least somewhat more likely to consider a brand advertised on a show.

podcast ads — Data via Infinite Dial – Edison Research and Triton Digital

The Good: Pod Save America

One of the podcasts I listen to regularly is Pod Save America, narrated by former Obama staffers. They comment on our current politics and what’s going on in DC. I enjoy their perspective because they’ve all worked in the White House. As a podcast producer though, I was very impressed by the commercials. This is a long show, usually about 90 minutes. There is a presenting sponsor at the beginning, Ziprecruiter. And there are two commercial breaks within the show – with 2-3 ads each. These are for national companies like Stamps.com, the Cash App, and Quip.

These ads are all recorded ahead of time, but they are done so by the show’s hosts. At first, I was picturing mortified PR people at these companies. The guys were joking about President Trump needing Ziprecruiter to fill all the vacancies in his administration. They were yelling at each other over who needed to be reimbursed for pizza with the Cash App. Anything goes in these ad-libs except, apparently, Game of Thrones spoilers. That’s what got them the most backlash.

Why would these companies allow the hosts to clown on their products, sometimes even making fun of the copy in front of them? Two reasons. 1) With custom URL’s and tracking, they can clearly see the ROI from the ads. People are buying the products. 2) The content is compelling. Like a DVR, you can very easily skip over ads in a podcast. Click +30 a few times, and you’re good. But when the content is new, and entertaining, sure, I’ll listen to an ad. And with their Cash App ads, every listener download of the app turns into a $5 donation to Pod Save America’s current charity.

You’ll notice the picture of Quip in this post. Yes, I bought the toothbrush. In a recent ad, they laughingly said that using Quip will make you a better lover. Of course, I know that’s a joke. But I’ve heard the ad enough times with fresh content. And yes, I got sick of my old electric toothbrush. So I spent $25. I’ll let you know how I like it.

The Bad – The Podcast I Won’t Name

I’m not in the business of trashing people, so I’ll avoid specific names here. But I grew up in Boston and I listen to a Boston sports podcast every weekday morning. It’s just a repackaging of the best 15 minutes of content from last night’s 3 hours of TV coverage. Usually it’s about 5 minutes on each topic. Well, they finally have a sponsor – Manscaped.com. Click the link at your own risk – it’s exactly what you think it is. It’s a well-targeted ad, directed at a mostly male audience. And it’s a clever ad-lib by one of their wackier personalities. So I listened to the full 90 second ad at the beginning of the podcast. Then I heard the same ad, verbatim, at the end of the show. And it’s been the same exact content for a few weeks, twice in each show – a span of 15 minutes. I haven’t listened all the way through since I first heard it.

A cable network produces this podcast, and good for them to be monetizing it. But this isn’t live television where you can run the same ad over and over. Times are changing. If your content isn’t compelling, and dynamically changing, I’ll skip it. And I’m not the only one.

Review: Detroit's new Little Caesars Arena

By JAGinDetroit on December 17, 2017

After quite a bit of hype, Detroit’s new hockey/basketball/concert/entertainment venue, Little Caesar’s Arena, opened this fall. The reviews were mostly positive, discussing wide concourses, great food and beverage selections, and incredible sight lines. There were only a few knocks on Little Caesars Arena, or “LCA.” The seats were very steep, it’s more of a hockey arena than a basketball arena, and the venue seemed empty during the action due to team struggles and the vastness of amenities.
I had been to the famous Joe Louis Arena a few times, and I enjoyed the character of an old hockey barn a year older than me. It actually reminded me, slightly, of the old Boston Garden I grew up with, with few amenities and great sight lines. I had also been to several basketball games and concerts at The Palace of Auburn Hills out here in the suburbs. I loved that the arena was close to our house, but there was no public transport to get there, and basketball games were largely empty. And despite being revolutionary at the time of its construction, I was disappointed with the acoustics when I saw Adele. Adele was outstanding, but even SHE had to fight some of the acoustics at The Palace.
As the schedules would work out, I made my first two trips to the new arena in a span of 4 days – as my Celtics visited Sunday afternoon, followed by my Bruins Wednesday night. Let’s review, chronologically.
I was a bit concerned about parking on a cold Sunday afternoon, so I reserved parking ahead of time, in a lot a few blocks away, through an app called ParkWhiz. For $20, it seemed quite reasonable. We were disappointed, however, in the fact that there was no designated area to cross Woodward Avenue north of the arena.

Detroit Pistons Little Caesar’s Arena Detroit — Basketball panorama for pistons at LCA

The venue itself was gorgeous. We made a lap around the lower bowl’s concessions area. The staff was extremely friendly, and I ended up settling on a Gentleman Jack and coke from the Jack Daniels cocktail stand. There was a plethora of Michigan Brews, although I was a bit disappointed to see that Goose Island had a stand. I found it surprising that the Ilitch family would sell real estate to a beer so closely associated with Chicago, the Wings’ biggest rival.
The food selection was great – we bypassed Kid Rock’s grill, but I did grab a giant Little Caesars slice (at $6 it was the cheapest food item I could find). My wife grabbed some chicken tacos that were solid. And we split the mini donuts and dipping sauce, that were as tasty as they look.

We splurged for some solid seats to see the Celtics (my wife went to a ton of C’s games growing up). For about $100 each, we were just beyond the hockey boards, with a great view.

Pistons Celtics Detroit Little Caesar’s Arena Basketball — Detroit Pistons Basketball court at Little Caesar’s Arena

The first thing we noticed was the incredible sound system in the arena. I’m actually a bit embarrassed to say it wasn’t me, the 15 year radio veteran, that noticed it first. It was actually Ellen. We quickly decided we need to see a concert at the new LCA.

The giant scoreboard was equally impressive and informative. The inner “layer” was great for those in lower seats. During the game, there was a running display of every player on the court and the number of fouls he had. Very impressive. While Little Caesars Arena is more of a hockey venue, it’s just fine for a basketball game.
That leads us to the ice later in the week..
Wednesday night saw 7 inches of snow that started midday and came down hard and fast during the afternoon commute. Combine that with a struggling/rebuilding Red Wings team and we knew we wouldn’t have a large crowd. But we piled into the 4×4 and headed downtown. This time we parked in the Fox Garage for a reasonable $25, and didn’t have a bad walk to the arena, from a couple blocks south.
This time, I was planning on dinner, and an item I’d mentally bookmarked on Sunday.

The menu board described this monstrosity as a “1/2 lb Bacon Wrapped Pub Dog, with crispy salami, white cheddar, pepper jack, mustard, and a pickled egg.” It took a good 10-15 minutes for the (friendly) staff to make this, and I had to eat it on a nearby table. There was no way I was going to eat this in an arena seat even with a cup holder. I got through about 2/3 of it, before it completely fell apart. The egg was a nice addition. The entree was a novelty, but not something I’d get on the regular (unless I found a good cardiologist).
We then headed up to the second level, with more solid food offerings, and eventually to our seats. We paid $40 each for tickets at the top, top, top of the arena – super steep but great views once we got settled.

In fact, I suggested to my buddy that we move down into the empty seats, but he wanted to stay put because we had such a great view of the action!
I would also be remiss to not give credit to arena organist Lance Luce – who did a phenomenal job all night, including getting the crowd in the holiday spirit.

The Wings outplayed the Bruins but managed to give up a late game-tying goal, allowing Boston to force overtime. I made a quick bathroom run, forgetting how short the break is between the third period and OT. I came back into the section during play, and as luck would have it, the Bruins game-winner 30 seconds in. So, I saw it, but not from my actual seats.
We left the arena, and it took us awhile to get out of the Fox Garage (as we were on level 5). All in all, it was about a 30 minute wait. It felt longer due to the late game and weather, but it wasn’t bad.
This criticism of Little Caesars Arena is fair; LCA is better suited to hockey than basketball. It FEELS like a hockey rink. That’s not surprising, given that the Ilitch family (who owns the pizza chain, Tigers, and Wings) built it for hockey. The Pistons were convinced to move downtown after the arena was designed. The “Bad Boys” have a beautiful new home, but it is indeed more suited to be home to Hockeytown.
Finally, there was some discussion as to what the preferred nickname of Little Caesars Arena would be. There was the “Dough Joe,” the “Pizza-rena,” the “Pizza Pizza Rena Rena.” I also enjoyed “The D Brief” podcast co-host Mike Geeter’s suggestion of “The HARA” – the Hot And Ready Arena. In the end, most sports journalists in town seem to be going with the simple, yet boring “LCA.” I guess that will stick.
Under any name, the arena is beautiful, with great sight lines, sound, video, amenities, food, and drink. It’s state of the art, and will only enhance the amazingly revitalized downtown of Detroit.

How Baseball Decided Revenue Trumps Its Future

By JAGinDetroit on October 30, 2017

Last night, we witnessed one of the greatest baseball games ever. Here’s how it ended, bringing the beaten-down city of Houston within one game of their first ever World Series Championship.

The slide. The call. The emotion. What. a. game. #EarnHistory 🔊🔊🔊

A post shared by Houston Astros (@astrosbaseball) on Oct 29, 2017 at 11:49pm PDT

Oh wait – I’m sorry. You probably didn’t witness it. You may have seen an alert on your phone this morning, or caught it on the morning news, or your Facebook feed. Why? Well, if you’re part of the 150 million people (about 47% of the country) that lives in the Eastern Time Zone, the game ended at 1:38am…on a Sunday night/Monday morning.
I bet those who went downtown to watch the local football team “Lions” themselves into a loss on primetime TV weren’t anticipating seeing live baseball after they fought traffic and got home to the suburbs. But the football game, that started at almost the same time, ended nearly two hours faster.
It used to be that baseball was our national pastime – the most popular sport in America. But over the last few decades, NFL Football has usurped that throne. Sadly, with the league’s p***-poor record on domestic violence, concussions, player safety, and its recent trip-and-fall into the divisive politics of 2017 – they’ve got some problems. As a result, the NBA is gaining ground. This leaves baseball in a distant third place. Sure, the pace of the game doesn’t match our on-demand dual-screening world. And soccer, formerly a game for “other countries,” is growing exponentially here. I know a great deal more kids (especially north of the Mason-Dixon line) that play soccer over football.
Due to soccer being a global game, it’s on virtually any time, anywhere. The bulk of NFL football is played on Sunday afternoons. Basketball playoffs start later than regular season games, but they are usually under 3 hours.
So I ask you, what kid, in the Eastern Time Zone, is going to be allowed to stay up past 1am on a school night to watch a baseball game? It’s also worth noting that the game ended at 12:38am in Houston, and 10:38pm in Los Angeles, which is still pretty late for an impressionable young mind.
By way of being the only one of the 4 major sports (5 if you count soccer) without a game clock, the length of a baseball game leaves an immense amount of room for fluctuation. Game 1 of this year’s World Series, a pitchers’ duel played under National League Park Rules, was the fastest Fall Classic tilt in a quarter-century.

2.5 hours 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Give them both rings!!!!!!!
— Daryl (@ateDARYL) October 25, 2017

Had last night’s Game 5 ended in “regulation,” it would have been the longest 9-inning World Series game in history. It won’t get that distinction, as the dramatic contest went 10 frames, clocking in at 5 hours, 17 minutes, over twice the length of Game 1. Lots of offense, an inordinate amount of pitching changes, among other factors, make the length of a baseball game wildly unpredictable.

So, does it bother anyone else that after that ridiculous game, us East Coastians will get less sleep than the length of gm 5? #WorldSeries

— Addison Mow (@AddisonMow) October 30, 2017

Diehard baseball fans who were able to stay up until the game’s dramatic conclusion were treated to a game for the ages – and weren’t complaining about the length of this “Instant Classic.” But how many casual fans saw it? I can guarantee that kids who saw that whole thing might become baseball fans for life – with numerous home runs, multiple run leads earned and squandered, and more.
Why do these games start around 8:30? Well, after 8pm you can maximize “prime time” TV viewing, and corresponding advertising rates. Also, this is after “work hours” on the West Coast. But to the greedy suits at MLB HQ in New York, I ask this: would you rather maximize viewers in the first inning, up against NFL football and other big shows? Or would you rather have more eyeballs when the outcome of the game hangs in the balance? Start the games, especially on a Sunday, at 7pm Eastern.
One final thought – with cable cord-cutting on the rise, the presenting sponsor of the 2017 World Series is…..YouTube TV…a cord-free television service. More and more people are watching TV – including live sports – on mobile devices. As this trend grows, and people don’t have to be in their living rooms to watch TV – maybe the “holy grail” that is prime time television will no longer be the golden goose of scheduling. Start the game at 7, or even 6. People can watch at their desks. And more importantly, kids won’t have to miss the epic drama we saw last night.
And maybe Generation Z will like this baseball thing after all.