How Astellas Scaled Private Podcasting for Learning and Engagement
uStudio Staff | Customer Spotlight, Internal Communications, Podcasting, Training & Learning
Josh Williamson is a Senior Technology Analyst at Astellas Pharma, a Tokyo-based pharmaceutical company with U.S. headquarters in Northbrook, Illinois. The company is focused on improving the health and well-being of people around the world through product innovation and reliability. In a recent uStudio webinar, Josh shared why Astellas is using private podcasting for corporate learning and employee engagement.
He offers a practical look at the types of learning that podcasting supports and how the company has scaled its program to meet the needs of multiple initiatives and remote business teams.
In particular, Astellas wanted to create a learning program built on short, digestible episodes that could be accessed conveniently by employees during downtime. With audio streaming, learners can engage while multitasking — a growing need across modern L&D programs.
Webinar Highlights
Here are a few standout moments from the session. You can also click here to access the full recording and transcript for more insights:
(2:55) On just-in-time learning:
"So if you have a learner who is…in the office, maybe they are out and about, but they have a specific need. Can you reach them in the moment of that need? That’s just-in-time learning. A lot of times a podcast can fit that description really easily. Podcasts are easy to pull up, available on mobile devices, and a lot of times you can tag that content so it's easy to find."
(6:19) On word-of-mouth sharing:
"If I were involved in an episode, and say I was a rep out in the field… I would be able to share that with my colleagues and say, 'Did you hear episode five of show number six? That was me on the intro.' That sort of recommendation? You're not going to beat that with marketing. Word-of-mouth is the best possible recommendation you can have."
(8:11) On requirements for scaling:
"One of our requirements was that we needed to segment content… uStudio is actually a tool that does that for us. It works with our existing employee data and is able to segment content based on who the users are."
(14:00) On gathering feedback:
"Is that content impactful? Is learning transfer happening? Is it actually helping them in their day-to-day roles? That feedback then drives the next episode, drives the next show. This becomes an endless loop — and that way your content is meaningful, and more likely to be consumed."
Key Takeaways
- Podcasting meets employees where they are, especially those in the field or on the go.
- Just-in-time learning becomes possible with mobile, searchable audio content.
- Crowdsourced and user-driven content fosters engagement and organic growth.
- Planning, segmentation, and feedback are core to sustainable success.
- Production doesn’t have to be perfect — flexibility leads to faster publishing.
- Marketing and follow-up are essential to driving adoption and repeat listeners.
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