The best shows are built before anything’s recorded. We help brands find the audience worth reaching, the story only they can tell, and the measures that prove it’s working. The result is a solid strategy, and a partner that stays with you long after launch.
Around 47% of podcasts stop before their fourth episode. Only one in ten is still releasing content twelve months in. They failed because nobody decided who the show was for, what would make it different.
That’s 'podfade', and it costs more than people think. Hours, budget and a brand’s reputation, buried in a feed nobody returns to. A clear strategy is the difference between a one-season experiment and a podcast with a loyal audience and a brand that keeps growing.
Every brand podcast worth listening to lives in the same place – the overlap between what your audience genuinely wants to hear, what they genuinely want, and what your business needs the show to do. That overlap is your Podcast DNA. It’s what separates shows people choose from content brands publish, in the hope that someone notices.
We build your podcast DNA from a proven process. A discovery workshop that gets under the skin of your brand and business goals, audience research that goes beyond demographics into what people actually listen to and why, and deep strategic thinking that comes from taking time to understand you.
The result is a foundation everything else builds on – and a blueprint that guides every creative and commercial decision the show ever makes.
Most producers can record an interview. We decide whether the interview is even the right format.
Here's what you can expect.
Broadcasting pedigree - Decades of programme-making behind us. So the show sounds like something people chose to listen to, not a meeting that got published.
Integrated video strategy - YouTube, Spotify, Apple Video and short-form planned from day one. And when audio first is genuinely the stronger play, we’ll make that recommendation.
Measurable ROI. We’ll agree what good looks like before anything is recorded.
Audience understanding. We create for the community you want to build, not the download you want to claim.
Not every strategy project starts from scratch. Sometimes a show has launched, lost its rhythm and started to drift – from its audience, format, or commercial purpose. Internal teams might be at odds or metrics have stalled for some reason.
We tell you the truth. An honest audit, clear recommendations, and a re-strategy you can either hand back to your in-house team or run with us, from start to finish.
18Sixty made launching a podcast really easy for us. They helped us shape the approach and stand out in the marketplace with a high quality podcast that really engages our audience. They know the medium inside out and offer great advice.
They really get podcasting and what it takes to make a great audio / video product. They’re supportive, they care, flexible, responsive.
18Sixty are fantastic to work with. Insightful, aspirational and engaging, their approach to podcast production is an ideal match and a big reason why Waterlands is a success.
Corporate podcasts fail when they’re really just internal memos with theme music. A brand talks about itself, an audience tunes out, and the show becomes content nobody asked for.
The work is finding the overlap. The sweet spot between what a brand has unique permission to say and what an audience genuinely wants to hear – that’s where the real strategy lives. Content pillars that hold across seasons, formats that earn attention rather than assume it, and thought leadership people return to.
The difference between content with a strategy and a strategy disguised as content.
Strategy isn’t a deck and a handshake. It’s a defined process that ends with something you can actually run with and a production partner ready to take it further.
The Third Angle won ‘Best Business Podcast’ and shifted how PTC showcase their work. The Persuasion Game became the #1 Marketing Podcast in the UK for consultancy firm Forge and became the core pillar of their marketing strategy. Waterlands gave WWT a conservation audience it couldn’t have reached any other way.
Different briefs. Different shows. Same starting point – deciding who the show was for, before a word was recorded.
Book a free 30-minute discovery call. Bring whatever you’ve got - a back-of-envelope idea, an underperforming show, or a board that needs convincing audio is worth the investment. We’ll talk goals, audience and what the right strategy can do.
Great podcasts begin with the right questions. Who’s the audience? What’s the story this brand can tell? What does success look like? We answer those questions, then we build the show. Strategy is the red thread that runs through every decision, every episode, every season. The shows people can’t stop talking about? They were planned that way.
You bring your voice and your story. We build everything else. End-to-end production with broadcast-quality audio and video means the kind of show that earns repeat listening rather than polite indifference. Made by people who learned the craft on national radio for brands with something worth amplifying.
Consider your podcast management in safe hands. We take care of everything – audio feeds, YouTube channel management, getting your videos on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. All published, on schedule and fully optimised. And because the podcast landscape changes constantly, we stay on top of every update so your audience doesn’t have to work hard to find you.
You pour time, money and craft into your podcast. We make sure the right people find and return to it through strategic marketing and promotion built around your audience, your goals and your show. Not just at launch – season after season, with the data to prove it’s working. Every episode finds its way to the ears that matter most.
A podcast strategy is the written playbook that defines who the show is for, what it sounds like, and how it'll prove its commercial value. Without one, you're paying to produce a show that no one decided would work.
Podfade is when a podcast quietly stops releasing episodes. Around half of new shows podfade before episode four. The cure is strategy: clarity on audience, format, cadence and commercial purpose, agreed before recording starts.
Yes. Where a show has drifted from its audience or its purpose, we run an honest audit, identify what's slipped, and rebuild the strategy. You keep control of production, or we step in for the full re-launch.
ROI is more than downloads. It depends what you want the show to achieve, whether that's brand awareness, brand lift, establishing you in your market, or building trust, which is why we spend time on your why first.
Yes. Host selection and format development are core parts of the strategy phase. Whether it's an internal host from your business, an external host we recommend, or a journalist or well-known name, we'll help you choose.
Yes. Strategy decides what the show is and why anyone would listen. Production is how the show actually gets made. We do both, but strategy comes first. Often they run alongside each other, or strategy can be commissioned independently of production.
Podcast strategy is the reasoning behind the show: why it exists, what it does for the business, and the thinking that guides every decision after it. That means understanding your audience, looking at what else is out there, building a format that fits, and working out where the podcast sits in the content you're already making.
Cost depends on scope and your ambition. Is it a foundation strategy for a new show, a re-strategy to boost an existing one, or strategy folded into a full-service engagement. We price against scope on our discovery call.
No, we help some clients find their way in podcasting, others we're pure strategy partners. But most clients prefer to carry the strategy straight through to production with us for continuity.
Strategy is the cheapest thing you’ll do in podcasting, and the one decision that shapes everything else. A 30-minute discovery call costs nothing – and could be the reason your podcast makes it past Episode Four.