The remarkable benefits of podcasting – Client interview with MillerKnoll
Since March 2023, we’ve been working with MillerKnoll, the company behind iconic designs such as the Aeron chair, Noguchi table and Marshmallow sofa. We took on production of their podcast, ‘Looking Forward: Conversations about the Future of Work‘ at the start of Season 3. The series features designers, researchers, innovators, and leaders from across the globe, who contribute their thoughts on topics ranging from the role of modern workplaces and employee wellbeing to the future of cities and the impact of climate change.
As we reached the halfway point in the season production schedule, Debbie West, Audere’s Senior Account Director, took the opportunity to chat with podcast host, Ryan Anderson, MillerKnoll’s VP of Global Research & Insights, about his original objectives for the podcast and the benefits it’s delivering.
Starting the podcast towards the end of the pandemic, Ryan was aiming to equip executive leaders in corporate real estate and facilities roles with good information about how they could create positive spaces and encourage a sustainable approach to flexible and distributed working. This timely optimism, coupled with MillerKnoll’s established heritage, provided an ideal platform for the podcast, which is attracting guests from leading organisations and institutions who present well researched insights and ideas.
“A podcast was a really great medium to say, Yeah, we want to share what we’ve learned, but let’s bring our friends into the conversation quite literally.”
The conversations being captured in the podcast are truly making a difference to MillerKnoll and their partners. Ryan describes how leaders of global organisations get in touch to say they are listeners; MillerKnoll employees use the content as a form of book club and it’s also being used as a training resource by independent distributors and dealers.
Ryan describes how the conversations are unlocking new ideas for him too, enabling him to get deeper into topic areas he may not previously have considered. Speaking of a memorable episode he made with John Powell from the Othering and Belonging Institute at Berkeley, Ryan described how,
“He changed my worldview, if I’m being honest. And there were other moments like that, whether it was about our industry or our world, that just on a personal note, have been so enriching. And I don’t think I ever would have had the chance to have those conversations if we didn’t have a medium like this.”
Huge thanks to Ryan for taking the time to record this interview with Debbie and to the team at MillerKnoll for being such inspirational clients to work with.
