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It's
the management dream: you can talk straight into the ear of all employees without
taking them off productive work. Thanks to the new iPod-driven phenomenon known
as "podcasting," they can now listen and learn while driving to work,
walking the dog or riding the subway. Many companies are starting to post audio
files online in a format that allows personal computers to zap them to portable
MP3 players, and the practice is quickly making inroads into critical corporate
communication and training challenges, with audio feeds delivered via intranets
and learning management systems targeting the company's employee base. Success
stories from our clients suggest podcasting might represent the Next Big Thing
for internal communication and training professionals. Granted,
the creative use of audio programs for corporate training and communications is
nothing new. When computer storage maker StorageTek wanted to rally its sales
and service organizations around a new product launch or customer initiative it
sent out a new CD edition of the "StorageZoo," developed by the Gronstedt
Group. The audio CDs were modeled on the popular sports talk radio format, but
focused on data storage instead of sports. StorageTek executives, in studio as
special guest experts, explained the benefits of new product developments and
fielded tough questions from "callers," who were usually sales reps
or customers facing a particular set of storage problems. The Gronstedt Group
peppered the radio show with funny "commercials" for competitor products
and played the sports radio analogy to the hilt. The StorageTek sales force has
been ecstatic about the way they can learn and laugh while driving to a client
meeting. The
advent of podcasting builds on these kinds of existing successes by transforming
audio programming from a supplemental to primary communication and training tool.
Audio campaigns now become a highly cost-effective on-demand channel to reach
a dispersed employee audience. Gronstedt Group is currently helping one client
train a sprawling global sales and service force on a new product launch via a
series of radio-style audio files. Thousands of sales reps and business partners
around the world can zap the audio files straight to their MP3 players, burn them
to an audio CD, or just listen from their laptops. In this five-part audio series,
employees meet the host and follow sales leaders from their company and a competitor
as they try to sell solutions to a fictitious client. Company executives interject
commentaries and respond to call-in questions. The
audience responds enthusiastically to the conversational nature of this fast-paced
and entertaining "theater of the mind," which comes complete with field
reports, exotic imaginary locales, humorous "commercials," inspirational
vignettes and subtle spoofs on the competition. The programs feature running themes,
jokes and cliffhangers that make reps look forward to the next program. Best of
all, it's translated to no fewer than six languages for the global sales organization.
While these clients
use the podcasts successfully for internal use, other companies are experimenting
with podcasts for both external and internal audiences. General Motors is pioneering
an innovative blog by its vice chairman, Bob Lutz. His Fastlane Blog (http://fastlane.gmblogs.com)
features podcasts targeting opinion leaders and employees alike who can learn
about new car models straight from the mouths of their designers. That's just
for starters; plans are in the works at GM for a weekly 15 minute podcast in a
radio format. This form of time-shifted audio casting will give the car maker
a voice straight to critical stakeholders inside and outside the company, all
at a minimal cost. With
bandwidth expanding as relentlessly as the proliferation and price points of MP3
players are declining, the opportunities for this new channel are seemingly limitless.
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