MACSF: Transforming Scattered Communication into a Unifying Internal Hub

Overview

• 98% adoption for a platform that has become the single entry point for 1,700 employees across France.
• Communication structured around regular, branded editorial formats (newsletters, videos, interactive formats).
• Video as a key lever to make strategy more tangible, accessible, and engaging.
• Unifying initiatives, such as the Sailing project, to build collective pride and strengthen engagement.
• More than 25 million impressions in one year: internal communication has become a daily habit.

A long-standing player in health professionals’ insurance since 1935, MACSF today supports more than 1.2 million members in their professional and personal lives. With 1,725 employees spread across its headquarters, six customer service centers, and more than 70 branches across France, the group faced a major challenge: maintaining strong connections between everyone in a multisite, demanding, and regulated environment.

In 2022, as it launched its new strategic plan and supported the evolution of its businesses, MACSF decided to rethink its internal communication to make it more readable, embodied, and accessible in daily work. The goal was not only to inform, but to sustainably bring teams together around its mission: protecting and supporting those who care for others.

Strong momentum, but information that was becoming diluted

Before the launch of Poppulo, MACSF’s internal communication relied on several tools (Microsoft Viva Engage, SharePoint, and a digital magazine). Each served its purpose, but none acted as a single entry point.

The communication team attempted to set up a unified information hub to centralize key messages. Employees quickly adopted the internal social network and generated a large volume of content and exchanges, but corporate information became lost in the flow. As a result, strategic information was diluted within daily activity. Yet the signal was clear: employees were waiting for a true communication tool and wanted to be involved.

This situation was even more complex in a multisite organization bringing together more than 1,700 employees across headquarters, customer service centers, and branches. This dispersion made it difficult to ensure a consistent understanding of group priorities.

As Aurélie Zanussi, Corporate Communication and Sponsorship Manager at MACSF, explains:
“We needed a single space to bring together information, make it accessible to everyone, and above all give it more meaning. The challenge was ensuring that every employee understood the strategy and felt involved in the group’s life.”

The objective was therefore not to multiply interactions, but to restore the value of information within an environment capable of clarifying, prioritizing, and making messages visible to all.

A single hub to inform and create meaning: MIA

In 2021, MACSF deployed the Poppulo platform, which it named MIA (MACSF Intranet & App). Accessible to all employees, regardless of role or location, the platform centralizes news, business information, key projects, and internal initiatives. Adoption was immediate: 98% of employees became active users from launch, including nearly 25% via mobile—an essential lever for reaching field teams.

Designed as a true information hub, the MIA platform quickly became the backbone of internal communication. It provides what was previously missing: a single access point, clear editorial governance, and features that help prioritize content while controlling interactions to avoid dilution of key messages.

Regular editorial formats for sustainable communication

To anchor MIA in daily use, the communication team drives editorial governance and feeds the platform with varied, regularly published content. One of the pillars of this strategy is the newsletter, designed to provide quick and easy access to information. In just a few minutes, employees can browse topics of interest and then return to MIA to explore further.

Initially monthly, the newsletter is now sent every two weeks. This increased frequency followed strong employee demand (especially from field teams). With an open rate reaching 72%, it acts as a thread connecting key moments in the company’s life, with a friendly and human tone. A light touch of humor or a playful note closes each edition, making it an anticipated and enjoyable moment. On a daily basis, employees find around ten thematic channels covering all aspects of MACSF life, including strategy, business lines, CSR, health prevention, innovation projects, and medical sector news.

In parallel, to boost engagement, the communication team also introduced weekly quizzes with varying difficulty levels, as well as gamification elements that systematically redirect users to MIA content.

This structured and consistent organization helps clearly organize content, prioritize information, and improve readability for everyone. By focusing on user experience, it makes key messages easier to access and captures employee attention more effectively.

Within this approach, MACSF also relies on Radio M, its internal podcast. Originally designed as an audio format, it has evolved into a more immersive program combining interviews, leadership messages, and deep dives into key topics. Broadcast on MIA, Radio M helps address complex subjects in a more direct and conversational way, while strengthening proximity with teams.

These long-term, clearly identified editorial touchpoints create reference points, improve content adoption, and contribute to more sustainable and unifying internal communication.

Video at the heart of the editorial strategy

Very quickly, MACSF identified video as a highly effective format. Rather than treating it as a simple complement, it became a pillar of internal communication, with an average of four videos published per month.

Content includes leadership messages, strategic plan explanations, employee portraits, and CSR initiatives. Video makes complex topics accessible while humanizing institutional communication.

For example, in recent years, the CEO has delivered New Year’s wishes to all employees via video. This moment is highly anticipated: engaging, motivating, and inspiring, it helps launch the year with energy and align everyone around the group’s objectives.

Integrated into the editorial strategy and its regular formats, video has become an expected medium for employees. It helps them better understand the group’s direction and see how strategy is implemented on the ground.

Strengthening collective pride through unifying projects

Beyond news and information, MIA also highlights inspiring initiatives that bring the company culture to life. The MACSF Sailing project is a powerful unifying thread, combining both sporting and human dimensions.

For over forty years, MACSF has been committed to high-level sailing. The group supports skippers and participates in iconic races such as the Vendée Globe, a solo, non-stop round-the-world race considered one of the most demanding challenges in the sport.

These initiatives are showcased through videos, reports, and immersive content. Employees can follow the adventures in real time, better understand the values they represent (commitment, self-improvement, anticipation), and connect with them more concretely.

These projects allow us to create an emotional connection. They illustrate our values of commitment, self-improvement, and support, which echo our mission toward our members.
Céline Fonseca, Communication Officer at MACSF

By highlighting people, journeys, and stories, MACSF transforms these sporting achievements into sources of collective pride. Employees are no longer just observers: they experience and share these adventures, strengthening their sense of belonging and alignment with the group’s values.

Concrete results within the first months

Today, the MIA platform is fully embedded in employees’ daily routines, particularly among field populations:

• More than 25 million impressions generated in 2025
• 766,000 app launches over the year
• Over 3,000 quizzes and 600 surveys completed

These results demonstrate a lasting habit: internal communication is fully integrated into daily life and supports the dissemination of strategy and business initiatives.
For communication teams, success relies above all on consistency and regularity.

Aurélie Zanussi concludes:
“Internal communication must be designed as a continuous experience, not a series of isolated announcements. Consistency builds trust and engagement.”

Céline Fonseca adds:
“The key is to stay simple, concrete, and human. When employees understand why we communicate and what it changes for them, engagement follows naturally.”

Making the intranet a strategic lever, not just a tool

MACSF’s experience shows that a high-performing intranet is not only about technology, but about a vision that includes:

• clear structuring of information
• establishment of regular touchpoints
• creation of formats that embody strategy

By moving from a fragmented environment to a single hub designed around user experience, the group has transformed internal communication into a real driver of engagement and alignment.
More than a tool, MIA has become a daily reference point, capable of creating meaning, strengthening connection, and supporting the company’s transformation over time.

In short, effective internal communication is not about producing more content, but about structuring it better, bringing it to life, and embedding it into employees’ daily routines.

If you would like to structure and energize your internal communication as well, discover how Poppulo supports multi-site organizations in structuring and managing their internal communications.