Dive Brief:

• Trader Joe’s has a new five-part podcast series called "Inside Trader Joe’s" that focuses on “the way the retailer does business,” including narratives from crew members, c-suite executives and store captains, according to a company press release.
• Some of the topics covered include how the company discovers its products, future in-store initiatives, expansion plans and personal stories, including how a customer helped change the way Trader Joe’s bananas are sold.
• Podcasting is growing significantly. According to Edison Research, about 67 million Americans age 12 and over — or about 21% — listen to podcasts each month. Podcasting’s “share of ear” — how much listening time the medium receives — has doubled in four years. 

Dive Insight:

Podcasts are quickly becoming a valuable marketing tool for brands, especially as more consumers tune in. According to Edison Research, 44% of American consumers have listened to podcasts, and 26% do so on a monthly basis. Moreover, these listeners rarely skip ads and listen to at least 90% of each episode, according to E.W. Scripps Co.

For Trader Joe’s specifically, this effectiveness should be amplified when considering that the typical podcast consumer mirrors the chain’s affluent, educated consumer. Thirty-five percent of podcast consumers generate a six-figure income or higher, while more than 60% of monthly listeners have at least a four-year college degree. 

Demographics aside, podcasts are increasingly becoming a space for brands — from MasterCard to McDonald’s — to put themselves in front of a captured audience. Advertising on this channel was projected to surpass $220 million in 2017, up 85% from 2016. These marketers are getting a bit of a return, too: NPR research shows that 75% of listeners took action on a sponsored message. 

The benefits for brands extend beyond a captured audience. Podcasts deliver analytics that can help marketers better craft their content to yield such action. They also provide consumers with an added layer of transparency through storytelling, which has become a modern-day approach for brands to stay relevant. Also, thanks to the ubiquity of social media, podcasts are yet another channel in which brands can provide their consumers with an added sense of the ownership and loyalty they crave.  

" 'Inside Trader Joe's' has allowed us the air — literally — to delve a little deeper into our story and to answer the questions our customers have asked of us, in our own fun and interesting way," spokesperson Kenya Friend-Daniel said in the press release. "It's a good start to a conversation we hope to continue." 

Trader Joe’s already has some of the most loyal customers in the industry, and they should respond favorably to having one more connection to the store.