Dive Brief:

• Procter & Gamble is the launch sponsor of a new podcast network from global women's leadership platform Seneca Women, the company revealed in a press release.
• The Seneca Women Podcast Network will produce original content such as interviews with female leaders to "amplify female voices around the globe." The content will be published online and through an app.
• Seneca debuted its first podcast series last year. It included interviews with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg and media mogul Arianna Huffington.

Dive Insight:

Attracting big advertisers like P&G points to how the podcast business is maturing and providing an opportunity for brands to get in front of consumers at scale. As a founding partner of the new network, P&G can further its messaging around women's empowerment, which has manifested across its portfolio of brands in recent campaigns.

Podcasting ad revenues are soaring, with the total market estimate for the industry reaching an all-time high of $479 million in 2018, and a projected $1 billion in revenues are predicted by 2021, per a report in Ad Age. The category will see double-digit growth into 2023, per a report from Insider Radio.

As the number of podcasts multiplies, Seneca Women wants to ensure that women's voices are being represented. The group cited research in the press release that said while about half of all podcast listeners are women, less than half of on air voices are female. The new network aims to level the playing field, and this offers an opportunity to P&G brands looking to target women with female empowerment.

P&G, the world's largest advertiser, has been embracing a number of tactics to engage women. This week, the CPG giant bought Billie, a direct-to-consumer (DTC) maker of women's shaving and personal care products. Additionally, P&G recently teamed up with Hello Sunshine, actress Reese Witherspoon's media company, to develop content around Eve Rodsky's bestselling book "Fair Play." The book promotes a system for rebalancing the domestic workload through a set of rules, household tasks and a "figurative card game" to play with one's partner. P&G brands Tide, Downy, Charmin and Bounty created a video series and podcast called "In All Fairness" as a way to push this message.

P&G's upcoming Super Bowl ad for Olay features an all-female cast, a nod to the fact that 45% of NFL fans are women. Last summer, P&G took on the pay gap with a full-page ad in the Sunday editions of The New York Times calling for women's equal pay, as part of its sponsorship of the women's national soccer team (USWNT), for which P&G's Secret deodorant brand is a sponsor.