2020 Vision

Are you ready for the best decade in humanity’s history?

No matter how much the news media, politicians, celebrities and climate change activists tell you we’re about to enter the gates of hell, we’re not. Things are pretty fantastic for humans. No matter who you are, every generation of your family tree going back as far as you can see had it worse than you – they put up with high infant mortality rates, violence, deprivation, poverty, starvation, predation, scarcity and disease that would make you sound incredibly selfish and ignorant if you complained about your life today. Running water, electricity, the internet, the free market, connectivity, opportunities for work, information and everything else we take for granted makes things so good that we have to make up reasons to feel bad, anxious, worried, dissatisfied and prejudiced. It’s stupid and betrays a stunning lack of self-awareness.

If you wanted to hear the thoughts of the great thinkers of the last century you’d either have to attend an elite university, be invited to a fancy dinner, or read a book. Now you can go about your day-to-day life and spend a few hours with the likes of Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Sam Harris or Stephen Fry on a podcast, and learn just as much (if not more) than those who meet them face to face.

Podcasting is the best way to tell stories (the oldest human means of communicating great ideas and cultural values) because it adds a modern means of delivery to an ancient form of content. This has application across business, entertainment, the academy, media and marketing. So far only the brave have seen the opportunity and taken it. It’s time for the rest to jump in, now that they’ve seen the early adopters get a return on their investment.

There are only two places where you can tell stories, convey complex arguments, get down and dirty, and focus intently on something or someone: Podcasts and YouTube. The latter has limits in terms of how long people are able to sit and watch something in the same way people do other things while watching TV, but podcasting can go wherever you go, and can be paused, rewound and skipped as the listener demands, when they demand it. This means you get to present your brand, idea, story or message to someone in the format you or they like best. You get into their heads for a while, without anything else interrupting your engagement.

If you don’t see the incredible opportunity this presents to your business, you’re paying less attention than those people who don’t realise they’re well-off compared to their ancestors. If you’re in marketing and you haven’t considered podcasting, you probably shouldn’t be in marketing anymore. Contact us and start your year exploring one of the best ways to connect and create in 2020.