In early 2020, I heard Ms. Thuy Anh share her marketing experiences in the US, mentioning how the podcast market there was absolutely booming, with a penetration rate of over 90% of the population.

I was blown away, because at that time in Vietnam, hardly anyone knew about or listened to podcasts. As for me, I’d been a podcast listener for ages, frequently tuning into English shows during my commutes to work. So naturally, I immediately wanted to jump on the podcast bandwagon.

The First Hurdles

However, when I pitched it to the team, I got challenged on everything imaginable - effectiveness, resource allocation, return on investment… you name it. Since podcasting was such a novel concept in Vietnam, I couldn’t really prove its worth either. I got so discouraged that I almost wanted to throw in the towel right then and there.

Fast forward to mid-year, thanks to Ms. Thuy, a Waves representative who came to introduce their app, propose collaboration, and guide our team, we finally got our first podcast on air - though still amid plenty of skepticism. Unfortunately, by year’s end, Waves had to bid farewell to the market. While that was quite a bummer, we decided to keep the channel running, if only to maintain our presence.

Market Shifts

Back then, with no one else doing it and barely any resources available, I had to research and set up the channel properly from scratch. That effort paid off - everything stayed neat, clean, and easy to follow. In those early days, with hardly any competition, even a slight media boost would shoot us straight to the top.

Then around mid-2021, everyone suddenly jumped onto the podcast train - probably thanks to COVID. The market became much livelier, with some newcomers doing an absolutely fantastic job. Meanwhile, there we were - early birds who somehow ended up playing catch-up.

Truth be told, even now our team maintains a pretty casual approach - no voice talent whatsoever, just us recording with our questionable voices and cheap earphone mics.

Sweet Success After Nearly a Year

Lucky for us, on August 19, 2021, we made it back to Top 6 in the Vietnamese Podcast Rankings. Now, in this field, rankings are pretty fleeting - they’re just weekly standings, nothing too fancy. Sometimes a bit of media boost is all it takes to climb up, and you might slide back down the very next day. But hey, when there’s a reason to celebrate, why not share the joy?

The bottom line is, if you’re passionate about something and determined to do it, just go for it - the sweet rewards will come. Don’t let fears hold you back, don’t let naysayers get to you. Results come when you roll up your sleeves and get to work, not when you’re sitting around worrying about what others might say.

Brand Talks Podcast updates news and shares stories about marketing and brand building in Vietnam. Released weekly by our team - Brands Vietnam. You can listen through any podcast-supporting app like Apple Podcasts (default on iPhone, Macbook), Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor…