Earned Eyes and Ear
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CategoryCase Studies & Breakdowns

Real examples of what worked, what didn’t, and why. Includes teardown-style analysis of shows, formats, and strategic decisions tied to business outcomes.

How one B2B brand used a podcast agency selection matrix to avoid a vanity project

How one B2B brand used a podcast agency selection matrix to avoid a vanity project

According to the 2026 Edison Research Infinite Dial report, over 135 million Americans now listen to podcasts every month. This massive shift in attention has f

·6 min read

Stop Booking Generic Podcast Guests: Finding Original Voices AI Can’t Fake

If your podcast guest’s answers sound exactly like the output of a ChatGPT prompt, you are wasting your audience’s time. We know this because we didn't just spe

·6 min read
How Banks Use Branded Audio to Humanize Executives Without Triggering Compliance

How Banks Use Branded Audio to Humanize Executives Without Triggering Compliance

The most trusted voice at Canada's largest bank isn't a press release. It's a journalist asking RBC's leadership hard questions about the economy — on a branded

·8 min read

AI Won't Future-Proof Your Branded Podcast — Strategy Will

JAR ran an experiment. Two podcasts: one made by humans, one largely generated by AI. Audiences tested both blind. The human-made version won — and it wasn't a

·7 min read
Your Case Studies Sit on a Webpage. Put Them in Someone's Ears Instead.

Your Case Studies Sit on a Webpage. Put Them in Someone's Ears Instead.

Most B2B brands have a folder full of case studies no one reads. They're accurate, well-designed, and completely forgettable — because they're written to impres

·8 min read
Zoom Recording vs. Branded Video Podcast: A Frame-by-Frame Trust Audit

Zoom Recording vs. Branded Video Podcast: A Frame-by-Frame Trust Audit

An executive who wouldn't take a sales call on a potato-quality phone line will sit through forty minutes of echo-y Zoom audio on a company podcast — because no

·7 min read
Your Branded Podcast Is a Monologue — Here's How to Fix It

Your Branded Podcast Is a Monologue — Here's How to Fix It

Most branded podcasts are monologues wearing a microphone. Two people, a guest, maybe a co-host — but the show is still pushing content *at* an audience instead

·7 min read
Why Interview Podcasts Fail Audiences and What to Do Instead

Why Interview Podcasts Fail Audiences and What to Do Instead

Somewhere between 3.2 million and 4.3 million podcasts exist right now, depending on whether you're checking ListenNotes or the Podcast Index. The overwhelming

·7 min read
Podcast Stickiness: Why Format and Idea Beat Famous Guests Every Time

Podcast Stickiness: Why Format and Idea Beat Famous Guests Every Time

There are over 2 million podcasts competing for your audience's attention right now. Most of them won't survive their first twenty episodes — not because of bad

·8 min read
Your Podcast Is a Living Document: How to Adapt Without Losing What's Working

Your Podcast Is a Living Document: How to Adapt Without Losing What's Working

Most branded podcasts don't fail loudly. They drift quietly — consistent publishing schedule, decent production, nobody complaining. And then one day someone pu

·8 min read
Why Most Corporate Podcasts Fail and the Three Structural Pillars That Don't

Why Most Corporate Podcasts Fail and the Three Structural Pillars That Don't

More than half of listeners will stop tuning in if their favorite host leaves. That number is not a listener preference. It is a structural failure hiding insid

·8 min read
Stop Chasing Podcast Trends: How Category-Leading Brands Set the Conversation

Stop Chasing Podcast Trends: How Category-Leading Brands Set the Conversation

With over three million podcasts now competing for listener attention — and an industry that analysts projected to push past $4 billion — the one strategy most

·7 min read
Interview or Experience? How to Choose the Podcast Format That Actually Performs

Interview or Experience? How to Choose the Podcast Format That Actually Performs

Most branded podcasts default to the interview format for the same reason companies default to slide decks: it feels familiar, it's defensible in a meeting, and

·9 min read
Why Your Branded Podcast Is Noise and How to Make It Signal

Why Your Branded Podcast Is Noise and How to Make It Signal

There are over four million podcasts indexed on major platforms. Most branded ones get fewer than 200 listeners per episode — and the production team congratula

·7 min read
The Podcast Host Isn't Dead — The Old Production Model They Were Trapped In Is

The Podcast Host Isn't Dead — The Old Production Model They Were Trapped In Is

When JAR ran a controlled experiment pitting a fully AI-generated podcast against a human-made one, audiences weren't just indifferent to the AI version. They f

·7 min read
Your Branded Podcast Needs a Kill List — Here's How to Build One

Your Branded Podcast Needs a Kill List — Here's How to Build One

Somewhere around episode forty, most branded podcasts stop making editorial decisions. They start making scheduling decisions. The topics look familiar. The que

·2 min read
AI in Podcast Production: Where Efficiency Ends and Ethics Begin

AI in Podcast Production: Where Efficiency Ends and Ethics Begin

AI-generated podcast episodes can now be produced for as little as one dollar each. That stat, reported by WebProNews in late 2025, has sent a wave of brands sc

·8 min read
Why Your Podcast Format Is Quietly Driving Your Audience Away

Why Your Podcast Format Is Quietly Driving Your Audience Away

Most branded podcasts don't fail loudly. They fade quietly — still publishing, still technically consistent, still checking the box, but slowly hemorrhaging the

·8 min read
8 Branded Podcast Mistakes That Turn a Business Asset Into a Corporate Side Project

8 Branded Podcast Mistakes That Turn a Business Asset Into a Corporate Side Project

Most branded podcasts fail quietly. Not with a cancelled show or a bad review — but with steady indifference: flat download numbers, low episode completion, a c

·8 min read

Why the Best Branded Podcast Episodes Turn Away the Wrong Listeners on Purpose

Seventy-five percent of the right listeners will finish your episode. Most of the wrong ones will quit by minute eight. The question is whether your show was de

·9 min read