“Force Multiplier” is an original podcast that brings technology, culture, and community together to solve some of the world’s biggest problems demonstrating the power of cross-sector collaboration as a force for the good of all.
Through well-known guests like cultural icon Charlamagne Tha God, the CEO of The Nature Conservancy, the Head of Advocacy at UNICEF, the Chief Surgeon at Doctors Without Borders, and other global leaders, the podcast highlights how technology can be used for good and how unprecedented collaboration, culture, and community can help solve global issues like climate change, health inequity, mental wellness, the unhoused crisis, workforce development, and nutrition insecurity. The podcast highlights some of Salesforce.org’s key customers along the way and inspires individual action from listeners to help solve the world’s biggest challenges.
The podcast returned for season 2 on May 11, 2022 due to popular demand, and continues to use accessible, entertaining storytelling and engaging interviews to show how key partnerships between brands, activists and community leaders, educational institutions, and nonprofits can create real impact in their communities and the world.
Our host Baratunde Thurston holds space for hard and complex conversations with a blend of humor, wisdom, and compassion.
The goal for every episode is to inspire individual action, no matter where in the world audiences may be, to find new ways to multiply the impact of the work that matters most to them.
Salesforce.org—one of the world’s top platforms for education and nonprofits and relationship management —and iHeart Media—the world’s #1 audio platform—collaborated to create a podcast that amplifies stories of how tech can be used for good. Hundreds of thousands of listeners have heard interviews highlighting collaborative work—including how The Nature Conservancy and Patagonia Provisions are working together to fight climate change, or how UNICEF is providing mental health services training worldwide to strengthen the families it supports—learning, while also being entertained by Thurston’s engaging interview style.
Due to its popularity, the podcast returned for its second season in May 2022. Season 2 pushed the original concept further incorporating community action leaders—real-life on-the-ground changemakers whose individual actions are furthering the collective good of all—including activists Daphne Frias, Aimee Allison, and Juan Acosta. Each episode theme also included first-hand accounts from community leaders who are dedicating their time, energy, and resources to driving change for their friends and families. The second season centers around three global crisis areas: Mental Health and Wellness, Education Access and Climate Change, featuring leaders from the Climate Council, Trevor Project, University of Kentucky, and TenTree among others whose organizations are on the front lines of solutions.
User-generated audio content also allowed viewers at home to submit their own stories of change, answering the question “What are you doing to make change happen in your community?” Their answers were compiled and shared in motion graphics videos across the iHeartMedia and Salesforce.org social media ecosystem.
The series not only shines a light on real-world problems and how they intersect (for example, mental health challenges don’t exist in a vacuum, they also lead to housing instability), it also recognizes that cross-sector partnerships fueled by technology are our best hope as we tackle our world’s biggest issues. The industry can learn that collaboration works to drive engagement and impact—the partnership between Salesforce.org and iHeart, with both playing to their strengths, amplifying the message and helping the podcast reach a larger audience.
Salesforce.org and iHeart Media both have large platforms and an extensive reach—combining their efforts, the strategy not only drove listeners to the podcast, it also raised brand awareness, drove awareness of Salesforce.org customers’ purpose, and delivered global reach—to tell compelling and motivating stories that highlight the exponential impact people can have on the world by working together to drive change.
These marketing efforts combined into an impressive following, as season 1 of the podcast ranked in the top 1% globally with over 514K downloads during its promotional period and an average completion rate of 63%, over 10% above industry standard. The audience continues to grow during season 2 with over 632k season 2-specific downloads to date. Season 1 was awarded the 2022 ICON Award for Social Impact at the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards, Gold winner at the 2022 Hermes Creative Awards, and a Silver winner of the 2022 Anthem Awards for responsible technology.
For season 2, Salesforce.org donated all pre, mid, and post-roll advertising inventory to nonprofits, using the show’s platform to drive further awareness of organizations doing well and doing good.
The podcast continues to ask, “How can we work together to change the world?” By sharing the positive impact of collaboration with a global audience and inspiring them to make change as well, the podcast has the potential to multiply those impacts even further.
