The Irish Independent Launches Daily Podcast with Auditorial from The Public House

Mediahuis Ireland enlisted The Public House to build a campaign around their daily podcast for the Irish Independent as it moves up to five days a week. Each episode gives an in-depth look at a different topic and is led by a different Indo reporter who really brings that news story to life. 

Named ‘Heard the news?’, the campaign asks people to think about tuning into the news, and to delve beyond the headlines and get to the real depth of the story. The campaign features national radio, digital out of home and press and digital across the Independent news platform. The campaign aims to increase awareness of the Indo Daily podcast and encourage listenership. 

Challenged with bridging the gap between the editorial the brand is known for, and the new audio format that they are not, the agency’s approach was to set about finding a way to blend the two. The first ever ‘Auditorial’ ad was born, editorial shaped like a unique sound- wave code that, when scanned through Spotify, links directly to the podcast itself. 

Colin Hart, creative director at The Public House, said: ‘The Independent are changing the way that we get their news through these podcasts, so we felt the need to change the way people access it. These ads are striking, interesting and most importantly, functional.’ 

Arlene Regan, marketing manager Mediahuis Ireland, said: “This podcast was devised to fill a gap in the market for a fresh news podcast with high production values for a time-pressed audience that wants to be informed. It is a wide-ranging series, where each episode endeavours to move the story on, offer a human-interest angle and add value and depth for our audience. This innovative and distinctive campaign really depicts this along with a hard-working media mix, where each channel is doing a specific job, will really drive awareness of the podcast.’’ 

Dave O’Kane from Starcom said: “Utilising podcasts to deliver the news to the Irish Independent reader is just another example of how the Irish Independent are moving with the consumer. Our own research at Core suggests one in three consumers have tried digital audio streaming during the pandemic. Utilising a holistic audio approach to media, moving consumers from radio to digital audio and supporting with Social and DOOH, will bring this strong campaign to an audience seeking new ways to listen.”

The campaign for The Public House is another example of the agency’s anti-formula approach to building attention grabbing work that is in line with their philosophy that ‘boring doesn’t sell’. The independent creative shop work with a diverse portfolio of ambitious clients including FBD Insurance, EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum, 48, Redbreast Irish Whiskey and Barnardos.