Initially launched in response to COVID-19 pandemic, The Weekly Take podcast was initially our way of helping the industry at-large learn about, respond to, or anticipate developments across different sectors of commercial real estate as well as the global economy. We knew we needed to be informing people about what mattered most in commercial real estate from every perspective.
As the pandemic evolved and then ended, our objective remained intact; to create a community of commercial real estate decision makers and influencers, ranging from internal experts and researchers, to external business leaders, economic advisors and authors, whose timely insights, stories and predictions can help people navigate the uncertainty of a changing landscape.
With every episode, we aim to lean into the unique storytelling advantages of audio—namely, the ability to have authentic conversations with highly regarded and well-respected guests – in a way that makes their insights immediately accessible, useful, interesting and human.
As the world’s largest commercial real estate services company, our massive global reach and client base gives us an unprecedented ear into what different companies and investors – throughout each major region – want to know more about, right now.
While our Research division oversees and derives insights from the largest data platform in the industry, with our podcast we’re able to speak directly to those researchers, ask the questions our clients need answered, and foster nuanced conversations around important topics with business leaders who are walking the walk (often while we’re recording).
Regarding our format, we use the data from the podcast platforms (Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts), our own site (cbre.com/TheWeeklyTake) and other social listening tools, to learn what spurs audience retention and dropoff, what topics garner repeat listens, what sectors or speakers earn higher average listen times or new subscribers and what speakers or sentiments get quoted and shared most often.
We constantly apply the lessons from this data to refine our show’s format, site experience and activations and make the insights shared each week more accessible and useable.
Additionally, we upgraded our site experience to allow searches of past episode transcripts and include summaries and quotes that can easily be shared, as well as links to related thought leadership. We’ve built features to allow our audience to talk to us and ask questions or share their perspectives with our show’s host and relevant guests. This has aided engagement and audience growth.
Data has been key to giving our audience the insights they want from episode to episode in a format that holds their attention and encourages them to meaningfully engage with us.
To date, our weekly series has been a resounding success. Listenership metrics have consistently shown double-digit compounding month-over-month growth since launch, often landing us as a Top 10 Business News podcast on Apple Podcasts along side non-branded podcasts such as Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and MSNBC. Likewise, Business Insider named The Weekly Take the best overall commercial real estate podcast for investors, and we were listed as an industry must-listen in Forbes.
Our client-facing professionals regularly express internally that having guests who hail from the world's largest and most-influential companies - who talk through their current thinking and the business lessons they've acquired through experience - are powerful tools they enjoy sharing. They use these insights to start or add to relevant conversations they’re having with clients and prospects. Likewise, our host, Spencer Levy, regularly receives inbound requests to chat with companies who want to discuss the most important topics and latest thinking in our industry.
Furthermore, the podcast is the largest driver of email subscriptions on cbre.com - where thousands of users have requested to be notified about new episodes as well as new research or thought leadership relevant to their business goals.
By growing a large-but-targeted audience that actively listens and engages, we feel humbled and proud of the series' continued growth and success.
