We regularly meet and interview professionals from our agency environment, who are experts in many different fields, on core issues of their work and developments in the industry.

In the current interview, actress and presenter Andrea Gerhard introduces us to the secrets of the podcast world and explains how she and partner David Wehle created the sustainability podcast ZWEIvorZWÖLF. Andrea also gives a few tangible tips for agencies that want to use podcasts as a medium efficiently for their clients.

PL: Dear Andrea, what made you decide to start your own podcast?

Andrea Gerhard: My partner, David Wehle, and I had actually written a concept for a sustainability entertainment show for TV. But it all dragged on a bit, and that’s when we came up with the idea of launching the concept, in a modified form, as a podcast. A podcast is technically much less complex than moving images and can be realized with two people. Since I myself have been consuming podcasts for years, the medium was very familiar to me.

We also wanted to bring the topic of sustainability more into the media. TV was obviously not ready for it in recent years but the topic is so important to me personally that I wanted to get it out into the world.

PL: What do you think makes podcasts so popular as a medium?

Andrea: Podcasts are more relaxing than video. We are oversupplied with animated images in everyday life. Listening to podcasts can ease our stressed eyes. In addition, podcasts are also great to listen to on the fly: Whilst cooking, bathing, ironing, travelling etc.

Another point is also that you absorb information in a very compressed way. This is ideal for people who have little time due to job and family, but still want to educate themselves and learn about different topics.

PL: Which elements are vital for a successful podcast?

Andrea: An intro with sound logo or your own music. Plus, a pleasant moderating voice in a good tempo from a well-prepared moderator. And an outro. In addition, a recognition in the podcast image and a good, concise name will help. Furthermore, gathered information in a brief summary, the so-called “shownotes”.

PL: How do you foresee the podcast scene evolving in the coming years? Is the market already saturated or is there still room for newcomers?

Andrea: There is no way the market is saturated at this point – I think it will continue to grow and produce big names. We will also see more and more advertising in podcasts, because for over a year now companies have increasingly been spending marketing budgets on placing products in podcasts. We are just at the beginning of this development, and it is only just beginning to reach companies and decision makers.

PL: How can the PR support podcasters?

Andrea: On the one hand, agencies can check if there are podcasts suitable for their clients and then simply suggest these clients as guests. If this works, it is up to the PR to create a lot of attention for the episode, so that additional media may report about it. PR can also create media partnerships and place advertising in podcasts.

PL: What does an ideal cooperation look like for you?

Andrea: For us it is the perfect situation when an agency suggests a sensational guest to us – with you it was the NATRUE natural cosmetics label. That was a great fit for us. We recorded an episode with NATRUE and you shared the episode on all channels. That way we could reach another ten to thirty percent of new listeners and everyone was able to benefit.

PL: Thank you very much Andrea!

You can listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.