Podcastmediets kommercielle potentiale: Et studie af, hvordan virksomheder kan og arbejde kommunikationsstrategisk med integrerede samarbejder i podcastmediet

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to examine how companies can understand and work strategically with integrated (native) collaborations in the podcast medium. Methodology: The study is based on 14 semi-structured interviews with two groups: practitioners from the media industry and listeners of the podcast Fantino & Bonde. The podcast serves as a case to explore the characteristics and mechanisms of integrated collaborations in a concrete context. In addition to interview data, the study includes secondary material such as audio clips from integrated brand collaborations, reports on podcast consumption, and studies on brand effects. Findings: The study finds that podcasts possess defining affordances that make them suitable for immersive and trust-based communication. Integrated collaborations share key characteristics with influencer marketing which serve as a potential way for companies to understand and work with the format. Podcast hosts serve as credible communicators fostered by the parasocial relationships with their audience. Integrated collaborations are effective when companies allow hosts creative freedom to communicate authentically. The medium’s limitations, industry hesitation, and established norms present cultural and structural barriers to broader adoption. Research Contribution: The thesis contributes to the emerging field of podcast advertising by adopting a sender-oriented, business perspective – an approach underrepresented in existing research. It introduces an affordance perspective to combine technological and socio cultural understandings of the podcast medium. Additionally, it provides new insights into how podcast hosts linguistically convey commercial messages. Finally, the study applies an influencer marketing perspective to explore the podcast host’s role as a hybrid actor – a research gap in current podcast advertising literature.