Case Study: Internal Podcast

When I first pitched the idea for CRx Voices, an internal podcast for ConnectiveRx, leadership wasn’t convinced. They questioned whether it was worth the effort and if anyone would actually listen. At the time, internal communications were mostly SharePoint posts and emails...functional, but not engaging. Employees knew their own roles well, but often lacked visibility into how other departments fit into the bigger picture of helping patients access and stay on their medications. I believed a podcast could change that.

To get it off the ground, I started lean. Season 1 was produced on webcams, with a simple format focused on giving employees a voice and helping them understand how other teams contributed to the mission. The goal was to test interest. The response was clear: employees were watching, they were talking about it, and they wanted more.

With proof of concept in hand, I scaled things up for Season 2. We transitioned to a full production setup (three cameras, professional lighting, and high-quality mics) to elevate the viewing experience. More importantly, we listened to employee feedback. Survey responses told us that episodes leaned too heavily on senior leaders and executives, so we shifted to include more stories from employees across all levels. We also found that viewers tended to watch about six minutes of an episode, no matter how long it was. By shortening the episodes to 6–8 minutes, engagement went up.

The results were undeniable. Season 2 viewership increased by 164% over Season 1. Season 3 built on that momentum with a 57% increase in views, a 30% increase in hours played, a 17% lift in play rate, and a 10% bump in engagement compared to Season 2.

But it wasn’t just about internal buzz. I began guiding conversations so we could pull out clips for external use. These highlights became powerful marketing assets, showing the human side of the company while reinforcing our patient-first mission. This dual-purpose approach — internal culture and external brand — gave the podcast even greater ROI. I also repurposed the "podcast studio" for webinars, elevating the production value and increasing viewers.

When the original host left the company before Season 4, it could have stalled the momentum. Instead, I used it as an opportunity to evolve the podcast again. I launched an internal search, asked interested employees to submit demo interviews, and coached the selected host to bring every conversation back to the patient. To reinforce that focus, I created a Value–Originality Matrix to guide topic development and wrote a new premise, manifesto, and producers’ promise. The message was clear: this podcast wasn’t just about jobs or departments — it was about impact.

By Season 3 and 4, CRx Voices had grown into more than a podcast. It was a platform that connected employees across departments, gave visibility to contributions that often went unnoticed, and reminded everyone why their work mattered. A tool that started with pushback became the company’s most successful internal communications initiative — one that not only energized employees but also provided fresh stories to share with the outside world.

Lesson learned: sometimes the best way to get buy-in for a bold new idea is to start scrappy, prove the concept, and let the results speak for themselves. From there, scale, adapt, and always bring it back to what matters most — in this case, the patient.

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