Podcasting goes corporate...

Although Podcasting may prove to be another technology that never quite captures the imagination, the Lexus car company is willing to give it a go at least. This article on adage discusses how the new Lexus campaign will be based around sponsoring podcasts on a Californian radio station.

One aspect of the campaign that is interesting is that the demographics of the audience is not a typical Lexus buyer. However, Lexus see a wider strategy at play:

KCRW'’s listeners are definitely early adopters of technology. “We want to align ourselves with the thought leaders,” said Ann Bybee, corporate manager for advertising and brand strategy for Lexus.

The second aspect of the campaign I think is more interesting to us as politicos is the focus on synergy in the ad campaign:

It includes promoting the sponsorship in a print ad campaign; Lexus logos and links on KCRW.com and on the podcast player; mentions on the air during daily regular programming; and mentions at the beginning of all 22 podcasts.

Here is a great example of how all the different communication mediums are being used in harmony - print, internet and radio are all supporting the main Podcast campaign.

Too often in the 2004 campaign, Internet adverts were never used in sync with the offline ads, which seems a waste of an opportunity to achieve an economy of scale and message re-enforcement. Once again, the corporate world seems to be leading the way - the political world should take note and learn.