The idea behind "Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon" was to leverage Kevin Bacon's celebrity to spotlight global humanitarian causes and unsung heroes making a tangible impact in their communities. Our primary goal was to use the podcast platform to draw in listeners through celebrity influence and captivate them with inspiring stories of social impact, ultimately driving positive social change. We would leverage video clips on social media to increase awareness and convert listeners to full episodes. Our podcast and SixDegrees.orgs unified handle encourages followers to engage meaningfully with content uplifting SixDegrees.Org and our featured charities, driving more impact. We aimed to achieve high listener engagement, increase awareness of various humanitarian efforts, and provide actionable calls to support these causes.
To bring "Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon" to life, we focused on a strategic blend of celebrity appeal and powerful storytelling. Our plan included:
Celebrity Engagement: Kevin Bacon's involvement was pivotal. Each episode featured him transitioning from conversations with celebrity guests to interviews with on-the-ground changemakers. This format ensured a broad appeal, drawing listeners with the star power and retaining them with compelling narratives, thereby giving the true heroes the spotlight so they could make an even broader impact.
Content Creation: We meticulously crafted each episode to highlight diverse cause areas. This included detailed research, authentic storytelling, and seamless transitions to maintain listener engagement. Our goal was to present stories that were not only inspirational but also actionable. We also ensured each episode offered an insight into why the changemaker being interviewed chose a life of service to others.
Multi-Platform Promotion: To maximize reach, we used video clips and social media teasers to draw listeners to full episodes. We also promoted the podcast across various platforms, including our partners at iHeart Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, and major media outlets like ABC News, Kelly Clarkson Show, and The Today Show. Our host also went on a promotional tour on other podcasts to increase audio to audio conversions.
Challenges & Overcoming Them: One major challenge was ensuring that the stories of lesser-known changemakers received as much attention as the celebrity guests. We addressed this by integrating strong, emotional narratives and maintaining a high production quality to keep the audience engaged throughout the episodes. We also wanted to ensure the celebrities invited to join the show were heavily involved in this work and not utilizing the show for inauthentic reasons. We spent time researching our guests engagement and whether or not anything in recent history could overshadow the work being highlighted, minimizing the importance of the other guest and their often lifelong dedication to this work. This allowed us to identify artists that knew how to shine a light on their changemakers as they joined the show and cheer on their work with additional commentary and storytelling.
Innovative Approach: Our approach was unique in its seamless blend of celebrity influence and grassroots storytelling. By using Kevin Bacon’s broad appeal, we managed to shine a spotlight on significant yet often overlooked humanitarian efforts, creating a ripple effect of awareness and support.
"Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon" exceeded our expectations and met our objectives by achieving significant milestones:
High Listener Engagement: The podcast maintained a #1 spot in the nonprofit category across many countries, including the United States. It also achieved a #1 rank in Business in the USA and Great Britain for three consecutive weeks and broke into the overall top charts at #16.
Recognition and Awards: The podcast received accolades including an Anthem Award and two Webby Awards, highlighting its impact and excellence in content creation. It was also listed on Kate Couric Media as one of the Top 5 podcasts to listen to.
Audience Reach: With nearly +751,000 downloads in the first season, the podcast placed in the top 1% of all podcasts globally, reflecting its wide reach and engagement. Utilizing social media channels, the podcast reached an additonal 4.6 million people through engagement from short form clips.
Social Impact: Each episode's call to action successfully mobilized listeners to support various humanitarian causes, demonstrating the podcast's ability to inspire real-world change. We had listeners sign up as monthly givers and even sign up as medical based volunteers to travel itnernationally to further the impact of some of the organizations highlighted.
Behavorial Change: Many listeners shared that they began to donate, volunteer and get involed in many of the organizations that were featured on the podcast.
