180 Degrees

The goal.

At Achmea, employees think about major social challenges every day. And to make an impact, talent that wants to give its all is indispensable. Like many employers, Achmea has a challenge in finding suitable personnel. With a campaign, Achmea wants to be in the sights of potential future employees. The main goal is to create a positive image of Achmea as an employer.

The idea.

Achmea would like to be visible within the target group 18-35 years old, HBO+ educated with IT, Data, Finance or Digital Marketing as a subject area. The so-called mentality group 'Cosmopolitans'. Critical global citizens who integrate postmodern values such as 'unfoldment' and 'experience' with modern values such as 'success', 'materialism', and 'enjoyment'.

Since research shows that this target group frequently listens to podcasts, Achmea wanted to develop a podcast series and formulated the following assignment: develop a podcast that charges Achmea in a positive way with potential employees, so that they will (eventually) consider the company for their next career move.

The outcome.

Mediahuis NRC & Audio agency Airborne then joined forces and developed a concept for an in-depth podcast series of 6 episodes, which takes a surprising look at societal challenges. Subjects that often receive little attention, but have negative consequences in the meantime. For example, the so-called "thirty-something dilemma," or the way AI is increasingly influencing our lives.

In each episode, writer and podcast creator Sharid Alles searches for answers, starting from a personal perspective and zooming out from there. She visits original thinkers and sharp thinkers. Together with them, she tries to find a new perspective on that episode's topic.

The impact.

The podcast makes an important contribution to Achmea's visibility among its intended target audience. Compared to other media within the existing media mix, '180 Degrees' manages to hold attention exceptionally well. The average listen-out ratio is around 90%. In other words, anyone who starts an episode almost always listens to it in its entirety. Reviews in podcast apps also show that the show is appreciated by listeners, as it is at nearly 5 stars (on a scale of 1 to 5).

In the Apple Podcast charts, the podcast ranked first in the Career subcategory for a long time. In 3 months, '180 Degrees' managed to generate over 300 thousand listening minutes. The success inspired Achmea to start production for a second series shortly after the publication of the first season.

Credits.

• Achmea: client
• Mediahuis NRC: account management & media partner
• Audio agency Airborne: concept & production podcast
• Mindshare: media partner

Learn more about this podcast at werkenbijachmea.nl