There are plenty of great podcasts about the challenges the world faces, and plenty more about business challenges, but there was a gap where those two concepts overlap. PwC’s podcast, Take on Tomorrow, was designed to fill that void, asking: How can business help solve society's biggest challenges? To help answer that question, we brought together global business leaders, academics and policy makers to discuss bold ideas about how business can help reshape and build a better future.
Our first goal was to make a show business leaders would listen to as they grapple with challenges facing their business, and society. Secondly we set out to strengthen PwC’s reputation for contributing to major societal topics that affect business with a series that would pair PwC and industry experts on the most important issues facing our stakeholders, and society. Finally, our third goal was to deliver a distinct podcast, different from anything that PwC had done before. Each episode focused on a core question about a single issue; hosted by two respected journalists (Ayesha Hazarika and Lizzie O’Leary), and featured both a PwC subject matter expert and an external guest from business, academia or an NGO.
From privacy and ransomware to climate change, AI, global migration, and disruption and innovation, PwC’s global podcast sought to answer: How can business help solve society’s biggest problems? We set out to, Take on Tomorrow.
We took topics that are top of mind for our C-suite audience and our stakeholders, and made sure those topics were thoroughly examined and discussed through a societal impact-lens, because what happens in the business world can’t be separated from the society in which those businesses operate. We also wanted to make sure we had a global perspective, and other voices balancing that of our own Network. That brought us to our hosts, journalist Lizzie O’Leary and columnist and former political advisor, Ayesha Hazarika. We juggled schedules and recorded episodes virtually around the world, switching things up now and then for special edition episodes, including one about the future of financial and ESG reporting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2022. Our episodes included a wide range of topics from crypto and blockchain, to green tax, worker empowerment and stakeholder capitalism to name just a few. Every episode is different because every issue facing society is different; and we worked hard to make sure our line up of outside guests and PwC expert voices were varied and impactful.
With our goals built into our production, marketing and earned media approach, we delivered a distinctive series, unlike any other business podcast in the market. We gave our key audiences information in the most accessible way possible. We paired our podcast launch with the introduction of our first digital issue of PwC’s flagship publication, strategy + business (s+b). This combination allowed users to access the information they wanted, when they wanted, in the medium they wanted. By pairing these together, it better educated and informed our key audiences with the information they wanted and needed. We also used paid, earned and owned social media to drive listener engagement amongst our key audiences. And as we all know, the podcast landscape is crowded, so we aimed to compete in a very focused and targeted manner in a small, but highly important space.
We reduced production cost and time by templating tactics to create brand recognition and repetition on social, in advertising and in earned media. These templates included guest invitations, activation emails, audiograms, key episode art, a dedicated microsite, and inclusion on all global network websites, all built from a foundational brand library of art, photos and integrated platform marketing. These templates streamlined production and approvals across dozens of guest companies and agencies.
Take on Tomorrow has been recognized as a top 25 management podcast in many of our top global business markets. Our show educated and informed business leaders with high calibre guests covering matters important to today’s dynamic businesses. From global migration to AI, even disaster mitigation after our guest, the Waffle House Index creator, recently weathered another Florida hurricane. In a bonus episode, it was said that 40% of global CEOs surveyed believed their companies won’t be economically viable within a decade; while in another show, Apple’s Chief Privacy Officer covered the concept of privacy in their wearable technology, as data is one of the most valuable and most dangerous resources a business can collect. Though it helps businesses better understand customers, it also exposes concerns about privacy, security, and trust.
Averaging more than 15 minutes of listening time -- 58% of show length -- and 18,000+ downloads in the first 12 weeks, 90% of our microsite visits were external, demonstrating we weren’t just gaining internal intranet listeners. With week over week growth, Take on Tomorrow amassed a steady following with 32,000+ visits, surpassing goals and benchmarks. Through our paid campaign, we increased internet search 400%, averaging 7.8 million ad impressions. Take on Tomorrow was also featured for key-audiences in mediums like Times Radio, CFO Dive, Bloomberg, Business Insider, BBC’s Business Daily and The Economist’s Money Talks, to name just a few.
