Understand why celebrity podcasts have multiplied and are so successful

After Klara Castanho, Giovanna Ewbank, Virginia Fonseca and many other celebrities, it was Lívian Aragão’s turn. On the last March 27th, the daughter of Renato Aragão started to command Vibe Boa, a podcast in which she talks with other celebrities about pleasant matters, as if it were a small meeting between friends, only recorded.

To the F5, the young woman, who already had a YouTube channel since 2014 and 2.4 million followers on Instagram, says she sees in the new program an opportunity to show more of her potential in a different media format. “Recently I’ve been doing a lot of work as a presenter, and the podcast came to add another function”, she comments.

She also states that, more than necessarily deepening the intimacy of the interviewees, one of the reasons for entering this universe is so that listeners know more about her. “I think people know my influencer and actress sides, but they know little about me,” she explains.

For marketing student Giulia Santana, 20, who listens to podcasts daily on her commute to college or work, Lívian accomplishes both goals, in addition to leaving the audience with the feeling of mixing entertainment with content. “I think it’s a true format,” she raves. “I like to listen to life stories and get to know the trajectories in depth.”

Just like Vibe Boa, most programs of the genre are interviews with other famous people, but without the journalistic weight of the word. Most try to make the guest feel so comfortable that they blurt out some information they’ve never given out before—some with more or less success.

PodDelas, hosted by models and influencers Tata Estaniecki and Boo Unzueta, is one of the prime examples where this tends to work. It was there that Bruna Marquezine became a meme by imitating a patricinha from São Paulo (“my name is Paola”) and where Fernanda Gentil revealed secrets about her relationship last Tuesday (4).

And the agenda of these programs does not only live on banalities. “We’re going to get together again at the end of the week and eat a barbecue with a picanhazinha, drinking a cold beer”, said Lula in the Flow Podcast, presented by the youtuber Igor Coelho. On the eve of the second round of the 2022 elections, the podcast also featured Jair Bolsonaro, who was trying to be re-elected.

But what explains the prestige of podcasts? How do they manage to get space on the agenda of so many important and busy guests, who are not always available to deal with the press, for example?

For Zico Goes, who was director of development for Disney’s national productions and has now also started to venture into the world of podcasts, the trend that started in Brazil in 2018 and is still on the rise can be explained in three points: visibility, relaxation and engagement.

Producer of a project with the former soccer player, broadcaster and former columnist for Sheet Walter Casagrande, he says that podcasts are yet another opportunity for celebrities to appear in the media. Furthermore, accessibility is democratic. “It’s not difficult to bring in a guest and record a podcast in one room at home, even though the big ones are broadcast in recording studios,” he explains.

Another point is that, most of the time, the conversations are relaxed and the guests and presenters are there to share what they find interesting and what they think can be commented on by the public. In addition, they are among friends, which makes them open up more easily.

Listeners also send in questions and comments, working almost as “co-producers” of the program. It’s common to see highly visible podcasts, like Podpah, trending topics on Twitter during the live stream, and the most bombastic revelations can generate comments for several days. Sasha’s answer about the supposed absence of an anus on her body or Tina’s hookup in Carnival were some of them.

Zico also says that, for production companies, as with any audiovisual project, the choice to invest in a new podcaster is guided by both intuition and reason. “It is not possible to predict whether it will work out, but we are always looking for talent that can bring something good”, he says.

That is, for those interested in having their own podcast, despite the crowded beach, perhaps there is still room to surf this wave.