Welcome to Message Makers, a brand-new podcast hosted by Owen Vittanuova, MD at Paradigm Creative Ltd.
Each episode, he'll take you behind the scenes of the communications world, exploring the insight, experience, and expertise of the people at the forefront of it.
From crafting key messages and understanding what truly resonates with hard-to-reach audiences, to breaking down barriers, planning complex global events, and exploring innovative internal communications practices, this podcast is your go-to for learning directly from the experts.
Hear firsthand from the UK's leading communications professionals, who share the challenges, successes, and practical tips that make their work impactful.
Episodes include engaging chats with communications leaders, offering a mix of inspiration, strategy, and real-world advice for anyone working in a communications role.
Whether you're a business communications professional looking to sharpen your skills, a leader wanting to understand the power of effective communication, or just curious about how best to negotiate change management or how to use AI prompts to your advantage, Message Makers will give you the insights you need to elevate your business game.
Episode 6 - Connecting people through more human internal communications
In Message Makers this month, we're joined by Hannah Perselli, head of Internal Communications and Engagement at Roku, the leading streaming platform.
She chats to host Owen Vittanuova about her journey from journalism into internal comms, and how she has used storytelling, audience insight and strong stakeholder relationships to deliver everything from intranets and internal podcasts to communications during the COVID-19 crisis.
The conversation explores why stakeholder management isn't a one-size-fits-all exercise, including how Hannah turned a difficult "no" into a "yes" by changing her approach and speaking to a finance director in terms of costs and value. She also shares how she launched Roku's internal podcast, 'Remotely Interesting', to create a more human connection between employees and senior leaders.
Hannah also dives into the role of AI at Roku, including an AI employee integrated into Slack, and how changing the channel as well as the content helped increase engagement with employees in India.
It's a conversation packed with practical lessons for those looking to create more engaging internal communications.
17 Aug 2026
Episode 5 - Driving practical AI adoption across a global workforce
Sasha Cornelius, Global Communications & Engagement Manager at Kantar, is our guest for podcast episode five.
She chats to our host Owen, about Kantar's ambitious journey to drive AI adoption across a global workforce, from overcoming concerns around accuracy, privacy and legality to getting thousands of people using AI confidently in their day-to-day roles.
The conversation explores how Kantar moved beyond talking about AI in broad terms and focused instead on practical, role-specific use cases. She also shares how weekly 'Power Half Hours', local influencers and adoption leads helped people discover where AI could save time and make their working lives easier. The approach was highly personalised, with teams using data to identify where adoption was working and where the campaign needed to pivot.
The results were significant. Kantar's initial target was 80% AI adoption by the end of 2025, but the business reached that figure by May, with adoption subsequently sitting at around 80–90%. Early research also found average time savings of two hours per week, with the most advanced users saving between 3.1 and 10 hours. Across the business, that equated to an estimated 24,000 hours saved every week.
A highlight of the campaign was the three-day Kantar's AI Festival, designed to bring employees together around AI while giving them practical opportunities to learn and collaborate.
14 Jul 2026
Episode 4 - Adapting internal communications across cultures and channels.
In the fourth episode of Message Makers, host Owen Vittanuova sits down with Tracy Goode, International Internal Communications Manager at Fujitsu, to discuss the evolving role of internal communications and the challenges facing communicators today. Drawing on nearly three decades at Fujitsu and insights from a cohort of peers across different industries, Tracy explores the shared issues organisations face, from engaging remote employees to managing information overload.
The conversation also looks at the growing role of AI in communications, with Tracy sharing how tools such as Copilot can support writing and research without replacing the human side of the profession. She also reflects on the importance of understanding stakeholders and building strong relationships, while finding faster, more digestible ways to communicate in an increasingly noisy digital world.
19 May 2026
Episode 3 - Balancing data, instinct and culture in internal communications.
Dan Gibbons, Internal Communications & Engagement Manager at Capita, is our guest for podcast episode three.
He shares a refreshingly honest look at his career journey and what effective internal comms really looks like in a large, complex organisation.
Dan's path into communications wasn't planned. Having worked across learning and development, video editing, marketing and comms, he explains how internal communications became the place where all those skills came together. For Dan, the appeal lies in the people side of the role - engagement, understanding behaviour, and helping people feel connected at work. Like many in the profession, he didn't set out to work in internal comms, but discovered it as a niche with real impact.
The conversation explores the balance between data and instinct. Dan highlights how metrics like readership, engagement rates and surveys are essential for shaping strategy and winning stakeholder buy-in, particularly when time and cost are involved. At the same time, gut feeling still plays a valuable role, especially when data shows that an idea simply isn't landing.
Working at Capita brings unique challenges, from navigating shared values and tone of voice to embedding culture at scale. Dan shares how Capita developed a culture code rooted in employee insight, collaboration and line manager buy-in, alongside a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion.
The episode also touches on where internal comms sits within organisations, the risks of underestimating its value, and the exciting opportunities technology presents for engaging people in new, creative ways.
14 Apr 2026
Episode 2 - Designing culture and connection inside a challenger brand.
In this second episode of Message Makers, host Owen sits down with Iain Lumsden, Head of Events, Activations and Social Impact at ING Australia, to explore culture, connection and the evolving role of comms in a digital-first, global organisation.
Iain has spent more than 20 years in communications, starting in financial services before moving into telecoms, where he and Owen worked together at O2. Internal communications has always been central to his career, and for the past decade he's brought that expertise to ING Australia, one of the country's original online-only banks.
As a challenger brand with no physical branches, ING prides itself on not "feeling like a bank". Ian describes a playful, slightly irreverent culture - or "wonky", as they call it - that shapes everything from advertising to internal tone of voice, while still balancing professionalism. That strong culture, combined with long tenure and close relationships, helps comms land more effectively.
The conversation explores how ING connects local teams to its global strategy, with leaders from Amsterdam visiting regularly to build understanding and celebrate success. Iain also reflects on cultural differences between working in the UK and Australia, highlighting the remarkable diversity of ING's workforce, with more than 50 languages spoken.
They discuss ING's unwavering commitment to inclusion, and how AI tools like Copilot can support, but never replace, human creativity and collaboration in communications.
18 Feb 2026
Episode 1 - Building trust at scale in internal communications.
In episode one of Message Makers, Paradigm Creative MD Owen Vittanuova sits down with Beth Fear, Senior Internal Communications Manager at Capgemini, to chat curiosity, clarity and connection in communications.
Beth's career in comms began by accident… moving from a call centre job while studying PR. This sparked a lasting interest in helping people understand change. Since then, she's worked across industries from retail to IT, learning that while every organisation has its quirks, great communication always relies on empathy, honesty and human connection.
Now leading internal comms for Capgemini's Cloud Infrastructure Services sector - a community of around 34,000 within a global workforce of more than 340,000 - she shares how consistency and collaboration are key and all about enabling dialogue to align strategy, tone, timing, and channels across cultures and time zones.
The conversation explores how Capgemini connects a worldwide workforce, from practical planning tools that keep teams aligned to sessions that allow space for honest conversations. Learn how success in comms is shifting. Beth says it's no longer about clicks and read rates, but about whether messages genuinely build trust and connection.
It's a great watch/listen with interesting discussions on balancing technology and humanity, and how AI can support creativity without replacing it.
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