Shows that last are designed, not just started.
Before the format, the guests, or the recording schedule - there's a more important question. What's the red thread that gives your show a reason to exist, episode after episode?
Production is the easy part.
There are hundreds of agencies that will take your brief, set up a recording schedule, and deliver edited audio. That's not what we do first.
Show design is the work that happens upstream. It's where we figure out who the show is actually for, what it gives them that they can't get elsewhere, what format is sustainable for your team, and what the red thread is that holds every episode together.
Get that right and production becomes straightforward. Skip it and you'll be redesigning the show on episode eight - or quietly letting it die.
Not a mood board. A show brief that works.
At the end of the show design process, you have something concrete - a document your whole team can work from, that answers the questions that will come up every week.
1
Show concept and positioning
What the show is, who it's for, and why it's worth an audience's time. The one-sentence version that lands in a meeting.
4
The red thread
The unifying idea that connects every episode back to why your brand is making this. What makes episode 40 feel like episode 1.
2
Format and structure
Episode length, cadence, and the opening that builds habit. The structure that keeps listeners through to the end.
5
Production brief
Audio, video, or hybrid - and what that means for your team's time and budget, honestly stated.
3
Editorial framework
Your content pillars, your no-go zones, the standing questions that shape every episode and give the show a point of view.
Show design is five decisions made in the right order.
01
What’s the show?
02
What format can you actually sustain?
Not the topic - the idea. The repeatable premise that gives every episode a reason to exist and gives your audience a reason to come back.
Format is an operational choice as much as a creative one. We help you choose the format that fits your team, not just your ambitions.
03
Does each episode earn the listener's time?
Structure is how you keep people listening past the first five minutes - and how you build the habit that turns a new listener into a subscriber.
04
What does production actually cost?
Time and money, honestly. Not the optimistic version - the realistic one that you can still be doing in eighteen months.
05
Audio, video, or both?
"We'll just film the podcast" is how you end up with something that works for neither medium. We help you make a clear decision and design for it from the start.
Want to understand how we think before we talk?
A five-part video series walking through each of these decisions in detail - designed for marketing leaders thinking seriously about building a show. About 10 minutes per episode.