I’m so focused on looking for new branded company podcasts I’m not already listening to, that sometimes I forget about the branded shows among the ones I already enjoy! I’ll correct for one of those in today’s review, of a podcast from gaming company Hasbro:

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work

Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast, which is the game development company that makes the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering. I’m a fan of the game and the content creators around it, so I’ve been listening to this podcast from head designer Mark Rosewater for years. I think of it as part of the content for my hobby, not as a branded podcast, but it’s actually a fantastic example.

In this extended, three-part review I’ll cover six valuable lessons for other branded company podcasts:

1. Reveal how the product is made
2. Interact with the wider community
3. Be candid about mistakes
4. Don’t worry about having a simple recording setup
5. Stick with it long term
6. Adapt when circumstances change

The biggest reason that I and other listeners tune in to Drive to Work is that it provides an inside peek at how Wizards designs Magic cards. There’s an incredible amount of work from different functions that go into releasing a new set of cards, and the podcast does an excellent job of highlighting the people and decisions that go into it. In fact, the show was one of the inspirations I had for my Backstage with Patreon podcast to similarly offer a peak behind the curtain.

It’s hard to convey the unique spokesperson, celebrity, and historian Mark Rosewater is for Magic alongside to his core job running the entire research & development team at Wizards. In addition to the podcast that releases two episodes per week, he interacts with Magic players through a weekly written article, a daily micro-blog, social media, and appearances at in-person events. Most companies don’t have someone who is as widely known, visible, and beloved. But so many companies can start to establish more of that community interaction through a podcast hosted by the company and bringing listeners along in the storytelling.

That’s it for part one - I’ll be back tomorrow with the next two lessons learned from the show. Coincidentally enough, Drive to Work also does an excellent job of stretching rich topics over multi-episode sequences!