Why Some Big Brands Are Starting to Produce Their Own Podcasts

Intercontinental Hotels, GE, Avion make hefty investments

Hidden in the basement of the InterContinental New York Barclay Hotel in midtown Manhattan is a deserted tunnel that once transported wealthy travelers to and from Grand Central Terminal during the height of the economic boom of the 1920s. That's just one of the two 20-minute Stories of the InterContinental Life-branded podcasts that have unspooled so far, with more to come in 2017.

InterContinental Hotels isn't alone. As marketers struggle to find creative ways to inure fickle consumers to their ads, General Electric, Tequila Avión, HBO and State Farm Insurance are busy producing their own podcasts, hoping to capture the buzz of runaway hits Serial and This American Life while targeting a captive audience with a light marketing touch.

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