Why Does Squarespace Sponsor Every Podcast: Information Cascades
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/why-so-many-podcasts-are-brought-to-you-by-squarespace/392840/
The article discusses a name that anyone who has listened to a podcast in the last four or five years would have heard on multiple occasions: Squarespace. In particular, why squarespace seems to sponsor every relevant podcast in production. The article explores this question by interviewing members of squarespace’s marketing team, however, the information the present can be viewed from the perspective of information cascades to better explain why advertising on podcasts is so effective for Squarespace, and why they keep doing it.
Sponsorship and the effect it has on it’s audience is analogous to the manner in which information cascades through clusters of individuals. The sponsor pays and supports a member in a social network to endorse their product. Viewers then see this endorsement and follow the decisions of the source they find reputable and trust. The choice of the user to accept the new product then cascades through their circle and the product penetrates a cluster through one significant member of the cluster.
In podcasting, the representative from Squarespace claims that “we know [that] target values the content” is the reason for selecting podcasts as their primary kind of entertainment to sponsor. Squarespace has thus identified podcast audiences as viable audiences for their product and by sponsoring something that the audience strongly supports, the audience will follow the signals of the podcast being sponsored and also lean towards using Squarespace in the future when they must consume such a product. When faced with the choice of which product to choose, the audience member will be likely to side towards Squarespace as he/she regards it as reputable and supported by members of a social network that they are a part of.
This instance of information cascades is a form of target marketing in which companies sponsor individuals, events or entertainment for the purpose of targeting the audience that consumes said item being sponsored. This kind of advertisement is more subversive than conventional advertising as it is a suggestion rather than a direct message telling audiences to purchase their product. It also shows the significance of information traversal through a network in spreading messages that support or degrade a certain topic.
Squarespace has found a market that frequently consumes it’s content and through information cascades ingrained an image of positive association of their image within that audience.