Commission or Sponsor an episode of OnFARM Podcast Series

The OnFARM – Food, Agriculture and Rural Matters – podcast series launched in January 2020 with an episode on Scotland’s rural education charity, RHET.‍

Subsequent episodes have included a conversation with Doddie Weir, a look at the critical work of RSABI, a day at AgriScot, the NFU Scotland Annual Conference, a look at how farmers are part of the climate change solution, a visit to the farm of comedian Jim Smith and more. We have recently completed a series in association with the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, looking behind the scenes of the Society and the Royal Highland Show. So far, over 7000 people have already listened to these dedicated RHASS episodes.

We now look ahead to the rest of 2020 and beyond. OnFARM is the first dedicated rural podcast produced in Scotland. Marketed at all types of rural dwellers across the UK, and, in time, to the urban population, the aim of the podcast is to give rural areas a stronger voice and tell the stories which need to be told – stories of charities, heroes, communities, enterprise, innovation, creativity, ingenuity, history and more.

We want to highlight all the wonderful things being done by our rural population to the benefit of the wider population – producing great food, employing local people, helping to mitigate climate change, educating the next generation, helping those in need etc. Not only that, but the podcasts also present a superb opportunity for knowledge transfer – we have already created some short, informative episodes, entitled OnFARM Helps, and are now planning more episodes aimed at sharing best practice and offering learning opportunities. This avenue is something that has been well explored, with great success, in New Zealand. We want businesses, organisations, campaigns and products to be sought out, and their stories heard, by fellow rural inhabitants, journalists and bloggers as well as by those living and working in towns and cities.

The OnFARM podcast provides the perfect means through which to champion all things rural and the perfect place for everyone to learn more about what ‘grows’ on in the countryside and delve into some of the facts, figures and fascinations behind our rural stories.

‍You can now commission an episode(s) of OnFARM in order to expand your communications channels and reach new audiences with in-depth content. A press release, feature article or short video can never convey the amount of quality information that can be communicated in a 35 or 40-minute podcast episode.

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‍Scene & Herd is investing money in the series in order to enable charities to feature either free of charge or for a very minimal cost. Other organisations or businesses are able to take part in their own dedicated episode of OnFARM for a commissioning fee.

‍The Benefits of Commissioning or Sponsoring an OnFARM Podcast Episode

• According to OFCOM, one in eight people in the UK regularly listen to podcasts. That’s a year on year increase of 24%, and an increase over 5 years of more than 50%. This increase is set to continue. Those living in rural areas have excellent opportunity to listen to podcasts – during the commute to work, whilst driving the tractor, in the lambing shed, out walking the dog etc.!
• Podcasts, in particular OnFARM, are highly targeted and niche – other channels might also be niche, but many readers will still skim certain sections. In audio, that’s much less likely. Podcasts are also trusted - a podcast’s core audience knows the host well. They like them, they trust them, and they turn up every episode to hear from them.
• OnFARM is currently performing in the top 25% of podcasts globally (with some episodes in the top 20%) based on numbers of episode downloads in the first 30 days post-release.
• Whenever an organisation or business features in OnFARM, they are given a copy of the podcast to use for their own promotional purposes. We aren’t a news channel but a storytelling medium – each episode is therefore made to be as timeless as possible, giving it longevity as part of a long-term marketing strategy.
• Each episode is also released as part of the OnFARM series. You therefore also benefit from the association with the OnFARM brand. Scene & Herd will continue to invest thousands of pounds worth of time into promoting this series across print media, social media and among rural stakeholders, growing listenership and increasing awareness.
• To date, feedback from the episodes released has been enormously positive and we are scoring 5 Stars on Apple podcasts.
• We know that key rural influencers e.g. Royal Highland Show Chairman, NFU Scotland President, Will Evans, Jim Smith, Joyce Campbell, Doddie Weir, The Batch Lady etc. are listening to OnFARM and sharing social media content.
• We also know that even bigger players are already being influenced by OnFARM – the BBC’s Landward programme has recently filmed an episode having heard about a subject we covered in episode 2.
• Our own social media posts and audiograms (audio ‘teasers’ used to promote episodes in advance) are also widely shared. The audiogram announcing the Doddie Weir episode, for example, had 2329 views in one Tweet alone. In fact, Twitter users are 85% more likely to engage with a social media post that has an audiogram.
• There is a unique combination of expertise within Scene & Herd, producers of OnFARM. Dave Howard, who records and edits content, has 20 years of experience with the BBC, making radio documentaries for Radio 4 and news programmes for Radio 1, among other things. Not only is he enormously technically competent, but he is also an experienced radio journalist. Episode hosts, Anna Davies & Ross Montague, have, at the helm of Scene & Herd, spent the last 10 years telling Scotland’s rural stories, with clients including; NFU Mutual, AHDB, AgriScot, SAOS, SOPA, NFUS, Scottish Land and Estates, SMRA, SRUC, The Buffalo Farm, Norvite, RHASS, Soil Essentials, Grampian Growers and many more, with proven success.

All episodes will continue to be available well into the future. They will continue to garner new downloads, and there will be future opportunities to re-promote existing episodes.

‍Example 1.

‍The NEOlac episode was our second ever publication, back at the start of the year, yet it continues to be downloaded.

‍Example 2.

‍Our episode with Doddie Weir received significant secondary promotion around the time of his 50th birthday, several months after it was first published. The marketing and promotional potential of an association with OnFARM is one with a ‘long tail’, that will continue to benefit any sponsor months and years into the future.

‍OnFARM Presence on other Platforms

‍As well as the core podcast product, we have a wide, active and growing network on social platforms:

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

For each published episode, we also create a promotional social media ‘audiogram’ (a visual image attached to an audio clip, with subtitles and a moving waveform to indicate sound).We envisage potential for a sponsor’s brand being incorporated into designs for future audiograms. We could also (as an example) agree a certain number of social posts per sponsored episode that mentions the sponsor brand or business. Any sponsor would thereby receive marketing benefit on social platforms as well as in the podcast space.

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‍Podcast Listener Growth

‍The growth in UK podcast listening over the past 5 years has been extraordinary, making it an incredibly attractive medium-term ‘bet’ for any organisation’s marketing potential.

From a virtually non-existent base in 2015, 18% of British adults – over 10.1 million people – now listen to podcasts every week. This makes podcasts more popular than CDs or people’s own MP3 music collections. The full data is on RAJAR’s website. (Fieldwork was carried out in February, ahead of Coronavirus lockdown).And yet it is a medium with room for growth, especially among audiences who are not in the vanguard of technological change (we count OnFARM’s primarily rural audience among these).

Moreover, their audience will be kindly disposed to you because your brand - and your money - means they get to keep their favourite podcast. Podcast listeners are also famously loyal; they are part of that podcast’s community or following. If a brand’s subject focus or niche dovetails with that of the podcast, that brand has a direct route into the ears of the people most likely to be interested in what you do. It’s a genuine win-win!

‍OnFARM Sponsorship

‍Sponsorship involves you putting your support behind any number of OnFARM episodes in order to increase awareness of your brand.    

PLATINUM (exclusive, no other sponsors)

£1200 per episode

£2,300 package for two episodes, one of which is about your business. The second episode will always be about something popular/punter friendly, as we always see a second download spike for the previously published episode (which will have been about the sponsor’s business or activities)

£10,000 package for 9 sponsored episodes.

Other package options available.

Exclusive - no other episode sponsors

3 x podcast mentions

Logo on OnFARM website

Episode description mention

3 x mentions on OnFARM plus Scene & Herd social media incl. logo on audiogram

Freedom to use content for own marketing purposes

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GOLD (maximum one other sponsor)

£700 per episode (non-exclusive; max two sponsors per episode)

Max one other main sponsor per episode

3 x podcast mentions

Logo on OnFARM website

1 audiogram with logo

2 x mentions on OnFARM social media

Freedom to use content for own marketing purposes

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SILVER

(maximum three sponsors total)

£450 per episode (non-exclusive; max. three sponsors per episode)

Max 2 other main sponsors per episode

2 x podcast mentions

Name check/thank you on website

2 x mentions on OnFARM social media

Freedom to use content for own marketing purposes

Training

‍In addition to the production of podcasts and sponsorship opportunities, our team is able to offer training to enable your business to work towards the goal of producing its own audio content. Please contact us to find out more.

‍Commissioned Episode(s)

‍Commissioning an episode involved your business employing the OnFARM team to create episode(s) about your business or a story of your choosing.

Businesses and organisations are able to commission their own episodes of OnFARM from £1400 plus VAT per episode. Costs will vary depending on content, location and the number of episodes commissioned.

Your business would work with the OnFARM team to choose and curate content and would have full ownership of the final episode(s) for onward promotion.