Betabrand, the San Francisco-based clothing retailer has begun a new experiment to increase its brand awareness: making their store into the Bay Area’s premiere live podcasting venue.
On Thursdays the Betabrand store becomes a showplace for popular podcasters, some of whom have traveled from as far away as New York to take the stage and experience facetime with their fans.
Says This Week in Nope’s Rachel Dodes, who appeared last night, May 9th, “As New Yorkers, we can think of no better way to connect with our West Coast audience than by partnering with Betabrand.”
“Podcasting is the new blog, and everyone either has one or is considering launching one,” says Betabrand founder Chris Lindland. “We put out a call for performers on Facebook and had three months of shows booked in under 10 days.”
Before every podcast, the retailer rolls away displays of its mainstay Dress Pant Yoga Pants and other merchandise to make room for a stage and around 100 fans.
While it may sound counterintuitive for a store to hide its wares during an event, says Lindland, “the podcasts and related social posts introduce Betabrand to an audience 100 times the number of shoppers who’d visit the store on any given evening.”
Betabrand’s Podcast Theatre opens every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and is scheduled to run through the summer — and likely beyond.
