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Why One Group Took the Plunge Into Podcasting

The International Trademark Association launched a podcast last fall to talk industry trends. The twice-monthly cast not only helps promote INTA’s goals but also helps the organization reach a broader audience.

Podcasting is trending nowadays. But in a world with more than 750,000 podcasts, and more popping up, some associations may wonder if launching one is a valuable endeavor.

It has been for the International Trademark Association.

“We were looking for a more out-of-the-box way to present topics of interest for our audience,” said Carol Steinberg, INTA’s director of marketing and communications. “It puts a different spin on how we are presenting to our members, the industry, and the public at large.”

INTA, which started its podcast last fall, dived into the format because it aligned with two of the organization’s overall goals: to promote the value of trademark and brands and to embrace innovation and change. “The idea of the podcasts is to spark conversation, to look at these topics from a different vantage point,” Steinberg said.

The Brand & New podcast is produced every two weeks and generally runs 20 minutes, a timeframe that works well for busy listeners. “The podcast does show added value to our members,” Steinberg said. “In a 20-minute segment, we are giving them something valuable that will help them do their jobs.”

Brand & New’s goal is to position itself as a space where leading-edge thinkers on intellectual property go to speak. “You want to keep up with trends,” Steinberg said. “A lot of the topics are things that are evolving and changing and happening right now.”

Piggybacking on that, Brand & New Host Audrey Dauvet added it is important to find topics relevant to listeners. “I try as much as possible to have interaction with the listeners [and] feedback from the listeners,” Dauvet said. “It’s not a podcast made for the association; it is a podcast made by the association for its listeners.”

Because topics are cutting-edge, Steinberg said the listening audience extends beyond members and also includes prospects and the general public.

To boost the value, each episode is paired with INTA resources. “At the end of every podcast and on the website, we say, ‘If you want to learn more, go here,’ or we present events coming up at the association tied to our topic,” Steinberg said. “It works as a great tool to promote what the association is doing.”

Steinberg also said the podcast has thrived because it has been supported by INTA’s CEO. “I think it is really important to have champions at the association,” she said. “It is important to get buy-in and to have the impact of marketing and communications.”

While the twice-monthly frequency of the podcast generally works well, INTA tried something different at its annual meeting in May. “We decided to have a broadcast booth on the exhibition floor,” Steinberg said. “We interviewed two or three guests per day. We broadcast some live.”

Steinberg said attendees really enjoyed the extra podcasts, which Dauvet hosted and produced.

Dauvet noted that an interview-style podcast takes a fair amount of time to put together. “It is defining the perimeter of the topic, researching the guest and everything that has been said on the topic,” she said. “We try to have a very holistic approach on the topic, so the questions are precise as possible.”

In addition, because INTA is an international association, it has worked to ensure the guests reflect that. “They are coming from different sectors, and it is also a global perspective,” Steinberg said. “We have had guests on from more than a dozen countries—from the U.S. to Croatia to Singapore to India. It is a reflection of our global membership, but also a reflection that intellectual property issues span the globe.”

Has your association launched a podcast? Tell us one or two lessons you learned from the process.

 

(Nicola Katie/E+/Getty Images Plus)

Rasheeda Childress

By Rasheeda Childress

Rasheeda Childress is a former editor at Associations Now. MORE

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