A solid recipe for a branded company podcast is to really deeply know your customer base, and deliver a show that addresses what they uniquely care about. AARP, even as they no longer go by the fully spelled out name including “retired”, clearly has a target market that is older Americans. The Perfect Scam is a nice way to lean into that audience in a compelling and tactful way.

The Perfect Scam

The show tells the story of scams of various types, and that’s not unique in our world of endless true crime podcasts and Dateline variations. What I like about the show is the voice it takes to the topic. In the episode I listened to about a small business scam, the primary character is the victim, but with care given to understand her aspiring business and her talent and savvy even in the face of the scam. That more supportive perspective stands out, as does the insertion of an expert voice from the FTC, offering practical advise to listeners about the warning signs they should watch out for.

(Shoutout to the credited team, which is nicely detailed since it was a finalist at the Shorty Awards: host Bob Sullivan, Julie Getz, Annalea Embree, Sarah Binney, Julio Gonzalez, Jason Orfanon, Tracy Sacks, Julia Rossi, Phyllis Fung, Eugenia Wright, Kathy Stokes, Andy Portnoy)