DUBAI: Podcast firm Sowt has announced a rebrand, which includes a new logo, color palette, and visual identity, to reflect the company’s growth and evolution.

The rebrand also marks a shift in strategy for Sowt, which is on the cusp of a transformation, said Ramsey Tesdell, its co-founder and CEO.

Sowt is known for its original podcasts centered around storytelling, but it also has an affinity toward journalism and wants to provide listeners with multiple perspectives from different sources, combined with historical and cultural context which would help them “navigate an increasingly complicated world,” Tesdell told Arab News.

Content consumption habits have changed, and so content production methods must reflect those changes in order for the content to not only reach audiences but also engage them, he added.

Therefore, as part of Sowt’s content strategy, the company will incorporate more videos, interviews, and a more diverse set of hosts and guests. It will also place more emphasis on localizing content and “rebase ourselves in (the) community,” Tesdell said.

In terms of its business strategy, Sowt will be offering more geographic insights to advertisers to help tailor their ad campaigns.

Until now, the company created audience segments for advertisers based on personas or behaviors, regardless of geography. However, “advertisers don’t seem to really understand” that behaviorally profiled audience segments “can be a powerful target group,” he said.

And although Sowt still believes in continuing its approach, it is “adapting to understand that we have a large reach and a big audience in specific geographic communities,” he added.

Sowt is also looking at specific “verticals” or communities that are niche, which does not mean they are small, but rather very specific. The company’s research found that “there are these niche communities that we can address and create products that are specifically targeted for that community,” he said.

One such vertical is children’s content, specifically Arabic audio content for youngsters, which is currently missing in the market, he added.

Enter Shamandar, a new Arabic-language podcast channel featuring children’s stories.

Tesdell said the name was symbolic. It means beetroot in Arabic, which as a root vegetable symbolizes a grounded identity, while its sweet taste and nutritional value reflect the content, which is both entertaining and educational, so overall, it is a “pretty nice metaphor for what we're trying to create with the channel,” he explained.

The company’s research revealed that parents are incredibly busy and seeking safe, family-friendly content that can be consumed in different ways, and that the majority of children’s content is ad-supported whether on TV or YouTube, while the rest exists primarily in video formats on streaming platforms.

He said: “The other thing that we kept hearing was ‘There’s no good Arabic audio content for kids’ or ‘Where’s the content for kids from our region?’

“We stopped asking this question and said we’re going to do something about that and produce some of that content.”

Tesdell is not against video content, and added: “Obviously, it’s a very powerful medium and we all are watching and consuming a lot of video (content).

“(But a) screenless component is a very important part of the development process and we want to provide that alternative.”

Shamandar is accessible on Apple Podcasts and other platforms for a monthly fee of $3.99.

The paid model helps Sowt create high-quality content both in terms of the stories as well as the sound design and production, and keep the environment ad-free and avoid “brand creep” in which children memorize ads more than names of fruits or vegetables, Tesdell said.

In addition to original content, Sowt will collaborate with content creators such as Adam Wa Mishmish, a children’s platform that blends music and education, and Dar Al Salwa, an independent publishing house dedicated to publishing books for Arabic children and young adults.

The rebrand and the launch of Shamandar are both initiatives aligned with Sowt’s mission of creating “high-quality content that will reach a lot of people,” Tesdell said.

The quality of the content is determined by high editorial and production standards and the relevance of the content to audiences in their preferred format and on their platform of choice, he said.

For the content to be relevant, he added, it first needs to reach “a lot of people.”

He said: “We are highly focused on developing and expanding our audiences and that means producing different types of content.”

Sowt aims to generate revenue through these initiatives so that it “can grow and continue to provide a high-quality service for our audience and for those who love and consume our content,” Tesdell said.

LONDON: Former White House adviser Matthew Brodsky has been suspended from X (formerly Twitter) after posting a tweet suggesting that Israel should “drop napalm” on Irish peacekeeping forces stationed in Lebanon.

Brodsky, a senior fellow at the Gold Institute for International Strategy and former director of policy at the Jewish Policy Center, sparked outrage with his inflammatory remark: “Israel should carpet bomb the Irish area and then drop napalm over it.”

The tweet, which has since been removed, included a map showing the location of Irish peacekeeping troops in southern Lebanon, who recently refused to comply with Israeli Defense Forces evacuation orders.

The former adviser to the Trump administration’s Middle East peace team and the White House’s Israeli-Palestinian peace team has been widely criticized for the comments, raising concerns about the influence of hard-line Zionist ideologues on US foreign policy.

BREAKING

White House advisor Matthew Brodsky suspended from X after calling for Irish peacekeepers in Lebanon to be burned alive.

Not enough. Suspend him from the Whitehouse. pic.twitter.com/ZBWjMEv6Jw

— ADAM (@AdameMedia) October 9, 2024

Brodsky, who has lived and studied in Israel, has previously suggested the use of napalm, a firebomb mixture notoriously used by US forces during the Vietnam War, against both Lebanese forces and the Houthis.

His repeated advocacy for the use of such weapons has been condemned as promoting extreme views and fostering further polarization within US political circles.

Critics argue that his statements are an attempt to promote Jewish supremacism, with fears they could inflame tensions and undermine American diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.

Brodsky is currently working with two Republican candidates running for US Congress in Minnesota — Dalia Al-Aqidi and John Nagel. While Al-Aqidi has distanced herself from Brodsky’s comments, Nagel has yet to issue a statement.

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris, who was in Washington DC, meeting US President Joe Biden, condemned Brodsky’s remarks as “the most disgusting thing” and “entirely inappropriate.”

He described the comments as “despicable,” particularly in light of the recent escalation in violence near the peacekeepers’ base.

“Our peacekeepers are doing an extraordinary job, and have been for many decades. I think everybody in Ireland is very proud of them,” Harris said.

On Thursday, the UN issued a statement confirming that two UNIFIL peacekeepers were injured after an IDF tank fired at an observation tower at UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqura, southern Lebanon.

The statement also noted that other areas were targeted and that IDF soldiers deliberately disabled the position’s perimeter-monitoring cameras.