Female-focused video podcast network is more than a business, it’s a ‘movement’

HERA — widely known as the ancient Greek queen of the gods and wife of Zeus – now shares her name with a new video podcast network, launched in the UK at the beginning of October.

It’s described as the first female-focused video podcast network and is the innovation of Rosie Allimonos, Nishma Patel Robb and Kirsty Hunter.

These powerhouses bring a stellar background of the likes of Google, BBC, and Fremantle, along with years of experience across platforms, digital storytelling and producing award-winning content.

They have an unwavering mission: to amplify women’s voices and close the gender gap in podcasting, as exemplified by Edison’s Q2 Top 25 podcasts, which show that men host 80% of the top 10 podcasts on the UK Spotify charts.

Not only does this signal a huge cultural gap, but the fact that women are expected to control 75% of discretionary spending in the next five years also alludes to a commercial pitfall.

What’s more, women are increasingly making economic decisions for their families and have 70-80% influence on all consumer spending today.

Not only is the gender gap in podcasting a cultural failure for society, it also marks a missed opportunity for brands that are unable to access and target female-specific audiences in safe environments.

How it started

The Media Leader sat down with Allimonos, and Patel Robb to understand HERA’s journey.

Allimonos reveals how they came up with the concept and the name. She says: “We thought, what could we do around podcasting, which is actually about expanding that notion of women’s stories that had not been heard at scale.

“It started from hear – her, let’s just hear her and what she has to say.”

Patel Robb further underlines the consequences of the current state of gender inequality in podcasting.

“Women generally are incredibly underserved when it comes to media,” she says.

“There’s a clear opportunity around the significant gap not just in content on audio and video podcasting, but what that then translates to is a significant gap when you think about women as consumers as well.”

Both highlight the difficulty marketers face in buying female-specific audiences and the lack of podcast shows and media for niche female-hosted topics.

How it works

The network consists of three main pillars: the content itself through the video podcasts, the HERA Club and the technology.

Speaking to the decision of choosing video and audio as a medium, Allimonos highlights how she believes this is the direction the industry is heading towards.

“You have the intimacy of the audio, with the beauty and compelling nature and richness of video,” she adds.

The co-founders state the importance of enabling their creators to monetise from day one, through connecting them with brands and sales.

Allimonos says: “When you are a podcaster video monetises at a much higher rate than if it were audio alone.

“So if this movement is also about empowering women and helping them monetise their creativity we want them to monetise at the highest rate as well.”

Moving to the second pillar, the HERA Club is a scaled community that female creators can join to level up their skills, educate themselves, and support one another.

Patel Robb underlines the value this has in creating supportive environments for females, which are not always widely available.

“We need safer spaces for female creators,” she says.

The final pillar — the technology — they have broken down the production process from idea to final podcast into 52 steps, and identified with AI 65% of those steps could be automated.

However, Allimonos outlines how AI is a complementary tool, designed to give women, who are typically time-poor, more time.

“You create this amazing workflow which augments what humans are doing, and all of a sudden, women who are time poor can now become more effective and more efficient quickly,” she adds.

The theme of AI and its male-dominated nature is touched upon.

Allimonos says she hopes HERA can become a disruptor in this male-dominated space, pointing to the “transformational impact” this female-created technology could have.

The gender gap impacts everyone

For advertisers, the fact that there is a gap in being able to reach and target female audiences poses a problem.

Allimonos echoes this: “Most advertising is not created, targeted, or reflective of their audience.”

Patel Robb further underlines the opportunity HERA presents for brands and advertisers in being able to change this.

She says: “For brands this is a new space and a really exciting space to be in, because, to be able to land their message in an environment that is so intimate and that builds trust in a different way.”

Additionally, the value in creating networks like HERA is that it can equalise opportunities and create a clear path for women and diverse voices to be heard.

Allimonos says: “Nishma and I both have teenage daughters, we want them to not have to struggle in that way and to have the ability to just go and do exactly what it is they want to do without having to think about the naysayers and all the issues.”

Patel Robb adds: “So much of it is about lack of opportunity — we just haven’t been given the mike or the stage.”

Both underline the importance for men in having female leaders and how key this is for balancing out toxic-masculinity within workplace environments.

They reflect on the interest in HERA from men, who recognise the value in its message and mission and want to be allies.

“We’re growing the pie — there’s more room for everyone,” Patel Robb adds.

Reception and what’s next

HERA has received interest from brands, staff, production companies, creators and investors so far.

Allimonos and Patel Robb both express their delight with the reception and underline the vitality of investor interest and the shift this represents.

In response to this, Allimonos says: “Investors are waking up to the value of women as audiences and as purchasers.”

This aligns with their goal of seeing investment shift more equally towards women’s voices.

Their vision is unclouded.

They want to not only see the top 10 podcasts as 50/50 female and male voices, but also to encourage more female creatives to get involved.

Patel Robb sums it up: “It’s not just a business.

“It’s a genuine movement in terms of what we believe we can do and achieve with this.”