We award quite a few honors here at Adweek, but few are as close to my heart as the Adweek Podcast of the Year Awards.
Now in its second year, this awards program recognizes podcasts that achieve business successes and push the edges of audio creativity across more than two dozen categories.
Candidly, I worried that this year's Podcast of the Year awards would see a steep decline in participation simply due to the crushing impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. But instead, we saw that quarantine sparked an unprecedented surge in audio content, especially on the issues that mattered most in 2020.
You can check out all of this year's winners here. Our top prize, as you can see above, went to Go Off, Sis, a truly amazing show now in its third season and created by the team at Refinery29's Unbothered sub-brand.
So what were the themes we saw from this year's winners? (Themes, I should note, that were definitely reiterated at today's Adweek virtual event, How Brands Found Their Voice With Audio.)
1. It definitely isn't too late to start a podcast. It's understandably daunting with so many in the marketplace—and with established audiences. But breaking into the podcast space isn't that hard if you have something to say, bring something new to the conversation and are willing to...
2. Take your time growing slowly and steadily, while being willing to adapt. The biggest theme we saw this year among winners was that this wasn't their first rodeo. Many were into their second, third or even sixth seasons and had been willing to take a pivot when they saw the need for improvements, such as more time spent on production or more VIP-tier guests. "Retooling" was a common refrain, and the shows that made the effort to do so definitely succeeded where many end up stagnating in the trough of despair.
3. Know that being bold is worth it—and doesn't scare off advertisers. Go Off, Sis, our top honoree, found a strong brand partner in Target while still bluntly confronting the difficult issues shaping the lives of Black women in America in 2020. Put yourself in an advertiser's shoes: Would you rather support a show that cuts through with a strong perspective, or one that just adds more bland noise?
4. Your "work podcast" can still be about your passion. This year, we awarded a special honor for Best Podcast Launched in Quarantine and made it free for anyone to enter. The winner was Voices of Resilience, from Columbus, Ohio-based agency The Shipyard. Given that it's a data-fueled marketing agency, you might think that would be their show's focus, but instead it's about erasing the stigmas from conversations around mental health. The subject was an area of passion for the agency's CEO and much of its staff, so the team partnered with The Ohio State University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health to bring these conversations to an audience that grew quickly and internationally.
What have you learned about podcasting this year, either as a creator or listener? I'd love to hear your takeaways. Drop me a note at the email below or at @Griner on Twitter.
(And quick plug: If you didn't know, I co-host Adweek's weekly podcast, Yeah, That's Probably an Ad, which you can hear weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts!)
David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
David.Griner@Adweek.com
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