I go out of my way to get the RSS feed for the branded company podcasts I review, so I can get them added to the directory on Brands In Audio and linked into these reviews. Occasionally a show’s feed is no longer active, and in those cases I usually skip reviewing the show. In this case though there’s a really novel and time-sensitive show that’s worth mentioning even if it may no longer be publicly available:

Stronger Southwest

The show is not from Southwest Airlines directly, rather it is created by Elliott Investment Management, which had been engaged in a proxy fight with management at the airlines. Elliott wanted independent directors appointed to the Southwest board and other changes to management, strategy, and operations - including abandoning Southwest’s long-running open-seat boarding process.

Elliott and Southwest came to an agreement on October 24, which included the appointment of some of the recommended independent directors, and an earlier retirement of the current Southwest CEO. But regardless of what you think of the business compromise, let’s acknowledge the podcasting team on Stronger Southwest, that at the time had so far released two episodes with interviews with their recommended board members, former CEOs of WestJet and Virgin America.

There’s a broader theme about companies using branded podcasts and CEO interviews on general interest podcasts as a bigger element of corporate communication strategies. But in the meantime, I’m mostly wondering - how many other Stronger Southwest episodes did Elliott’s marketing team record, and shouldn’t the negotiation have included an agreement to still release them in the podcast feed!