The Hear It Podcast (Rebecca Roberts, Thread & Fable)

We’re speaking with Oli Hills, CEO of Nonsensical, the agency that helps clients  win on TikTok. Having taken over Updates Media Ltd in 2017 after a career in investment management, he evolved it into Nonsensical just as the pandemic hit and TikTok rocketed. In this episode we talk about how to get the right strategic approach for the platform to better engage youth audiences, how to avoid doing it badly and who’s doing it really well. It’s packed full of tips and advice!

You can find out about Nonsensical here and connect with Oli on LinkedIn here and Twitter (X) here plus the Nonsensical blog which is worth a read. 

Things we talk about

Approach to organic strategy and having multiple accounts for different audiences

• Gymshark men and women accounts on TikTok
• Duolingo region specific accounts UK and France for example
• The Works on books and Oli discussses how they could split this out to books and parents

Paid ads approach and finding the right kind of content your audience might be engaging with

• Mukbangs
• Restaurant reviews and tours

Other accounts we mention

• Urban Tandoor Bristol – the restaurant who have amassed over 10m likes through their parody songs
• Duolingo and Ryanair may not need TikTok but they are brands who land their tone of voice well
• Sheer Luxe; digital fashion and lifestyle publication whose team operate as influencers within the content
• Luxe Collective: luxury fashion buying second hand. Interviews with owners, provides a depth of content as well as the shopping option
• RSPB: and how their Bird of the Week is a fun, platform relevant way to engage Gen Z with bird info.

Attribution and it’s challenges with TikTok

• Attribution tools like Fospha
• Post purchase/engagement surveys

Three top tips for winning on TikTok

• Organic: define your biggest audience that has something in common and focus on creating content on just that audience.
• Creative: really thing about being native, authentic, genuine and looks/feels like TikTok
• Repeatable, scalable style of content that you can repeat

Recommendations

• TikTok for Business on LinkedIn
• Disney’s Creativity Inc book

Ben Verinder, MD of Chalkstream, a specialist reputation research and management agency, talks to us about the challenging market Further Education sits within, it's complex audience groups and what marketing and communications teams can do to tackle it. 

Chalkstream: a specialist reputation research and management agency, which has worked with over 100 colleges, universities and schools, as well as a host of other clients and recently spoke at the All Parliamentary Project Group for Skills, Careers and Employment.

Connect with Ben on LinkedIn

Things Ben mentions

• Adult Participation & Learning Survey, 2022
• Wigan & Leigh College
• Milton Keynes College 
• Department of Education FE Vocational Education and Success 
• Association of Colleges
• The College Marketing Network

We hear from Ruth Dale, Founder of Social Insight Marketing, a behaviour change marketing specialist, offering training to practitioners across a breadth of sectors looking to adopt a behaviour change approach to their work. 

With over 20 years experience across NHS, local and national government, Ruth has worked on almost every social and health issue out there. As well as her infamous behaviour change bootcamps, she also hosts the Behaviour Change Marketing Bootcamp podcast. 

You can find Ruth on Twitter, LinkedIn and her own site here

Things Ruth talks about including models and templates to try...

• The Elephant and the Rider
• COM-B model for Behavioural Change
• EAST Framework
• Dave Grey's Empathy Map

Books Ruth Mentions

• Thinking Fast & Slow by Daniel Kahneman
• Using Behavioural Science in Marketing by Nancy Harhut
• Melina Palmer
• Decoded, the Science behind why we buy, by Phil Barden

We welcome John Gilbert, Managing Director of Eski Media to this episode. We're talking about campaigns that tackle social issues and how we can co-create and work with youth audiences to create ones that make a difference. Eski Media is a creative media and marketing agency that's ambitious about creating social change through its work.

They've led numerous campaigns where engaging youth audiences and complex range of stakeholders has been part of the process.

Connect with John on X and LinkedIn

Eski Media

Campaigns from Eski we talk about:

Step Up

Influenced

Got your back

Thrown Away

And the new drama series being packaged for a range of public services, Circle North (well worth checking out).

Book John mentions: Science of Storytelling by Will Storr

Cat Prill, Marketing Coordinator at Lancaster University having worked at departmental, central and faculty level in a range of roles. All of this helps to position her skills in contributing to building the community the University has across its social channels. Cat works with the campaigns team at Lancaster, creating and amplifying fresh and distinctive content. An advocate for student voice, accessibility, diversity, visibility and representation in content, she believes the HE sector can continually grow to be a better ally for the young people it supports.

She’s talked at numerous events about how to cultivate the right conversation through channels in order to connect with a youth audience. She also has the most insanely cute puppy.

In this episode we talk about what makes online communities work, how Lancaster approach being an inclusive community and how to humanise your online voice.

In order to influence behaviour, from the development of your campaign through to how your measure it's impact, has to delve deeper than 'likes' or 'reach' in order to be effective, not least when it comes to habits and behaviours that influence health. 

This episode we speak with Shayoni Lynn, founder of Lynn PR and industry expert in data-driven strategic communications and applied behavioural science. 

Having worked on numerous award-winning campaigns, including some that engage youth audiences, we hear her take on why campaigns so often miss the mark and why context is everything when it comes to engaging young people. 

https://www.lynnpr.co.uk/

https://twitter.com/shayonislynn 

This week we’re joined by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor of WONKHE, where he explores the latest research, analysis and policy making impacting students and higher education. A former long-standing director at the National Union of Students, Jim has also worked as CEO at the Students’ Union at UEA in Norwich and is also a fellow at the Royal Society of the Arts. In this episode we discuss some of the issues the pandemic has brought upon students and what the future may hold for the sector. 

Jim Dickinson @jim_dickinson 

Wonkhe https://wonkhe.com/

https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-pandemic-has-decimated-the-university-experience-how-can-we-put-that-right/ 

Airport culture and Gen Z from Vice https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3gy5k/gen-z-airport-culture 

Jim's Recommendations 

What Adults Don't Tell You Before You Adult podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/what-adults-dont-tell-you-before-you-adult/id1462211932 

We welcome Leon Mann MBE onto the podcast this epsiode. Entrepreneur, activist, broadcaster turned filmmaker, who’s spent his career telling stories throughout the world of sport. Founder of independent sports consultancy and production company Refresh Sports, also set up the Black Collective of Media in Sport (BCOMS), the networking group for black sports journalists, as well as the Football Black List, an initiative he co-founded in 2009, which highlights the achievements of black representatives in sport.

This episode we talk about diversifying talent within the sports industry, how BCOMS is elevating young talent and working with an industry that still has a way to go, in order for diversity of thought to improve the content, opportunities and leadership shaping its path. 

Things Leon talks about: 

The D word research from BCOMS

StreamYard

Week One Summer by Floyd Steadman

Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday

Real Wins: Race, Leadership and How to Redefine Success by Michelle Moore

We’re talking Gen Z talent and employer branding with Dereck Maruma, Commercial Manager at Tapin Media, a youth-focused media and marketing agency specialising in bridging the gap between students and employers. We explore what organisations need to be doing to better attract and retain Gen Z talent and what Tapin’s ‘This is Black Gen Z’ report can tell us about diversifying youth talent to ensure success for young employees, through the recruitment process and once they are in role.

Connect with Dereck on LinkedIn

Find out more about Tapin Media

Read the This is Black Gen Z Report

Things we talk about

Salary transparency: a recent study found around half of jobs on LinkedIn don’t give salary details while Labour’s Plan to Make Work Pay was published ahead of the election and sets outs reforms which includes salary transparency.  

Campaigners call for Afro hair to become protected characteristic in the Equality Act – linked to discussion on being yourself in job interviews.

Insight from The Access Platform which references university EDI policies as being a factor international students consider as part of their decision-making process.

#QuitTok the rise of publicly quitting on TikTok

Top 3 Tips for Gen Z Employer Branding

• Embrace social channels
• Diversify your content
• Authenticity and transparency

Examples of brands doing it well

Gymshark on LinkedIn, Diageo on Instagram, Currys on TikTok and Go Daddy Life example on their website.

Other things to check out

The Employer Brand Space on LinkedIn, BYP Network and Hung Lee

This week we’re joined by Emma Leech, Director of Marketing and Communications at Nottingham Trent University. Emma’s career spans a breadth of Higher Education Institutions, with her teams winning a multitude of awards for their work in engaging young people. A founding chartered PR Practitioner, Chartered Marketer and Chartered Manager, she has also held industry positions including CIPR President in 2019. We talk about how campaigns in higher education have to work harder to engage young people, why demonstrating the value of education is vital and what the challenges of the past year mean for marketing and communications over the coming months. 

Emma on Twitter @EmmaJ70

https://www.ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/senior-management-team/emma-leech 

Emma’s Recommendations 

Brené Brown Dare to Lead book, her podcast of the same name is here https://brenebrown.com/dtl-podcast/ 

David Olusoga, Black and British, a Forgotten History book, and his show for BBC can be found here https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b082x0h6 

Calm Edged Rebels Podcast 

https://calmedgedrebels.com/ 

Disrupting the Degree podcast with Stephen Cleary  https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/disrupting-the-degree/id1529940932  

Insight Timer app https://insighttimer.com/ 

https://www.allthingsic.com/ 

https://wonkhe.com/

A theme which runs through almost all other episode - the importance of working and creating with young people. But what does this actually mean and how can we better do this?

We speak with Harry Beard, a 21 year old entrepreneur, named one of Ernst & Young's Best Student Entrepreneurs in their 'Founders 30' competition and co-founder of Future Labs providing 'Gen Z' consultancy expertise and reports and Prospect 100, an exciting competition spanning a breadth of genres, celebrating youth talent and helping them to connect with their respective industries. 

Harry comes equipped with a stack of relevant examples and ideas about the skill set youth audiences need to be developing to succeed within their careers as well as how brands can better resonate with sub cultures within youth audiences. 

This week we speak with Penny Norman, Strategy Director at Rescue, a behavioural change agency working with Governments and non-profits to tackle behavioural health campaigns in the U.S, specifically nicotine, cannabis and opiods.

https://rescueagency.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pennynorman/

https://rescueagency.com/webinars

We talk about the subcultures within the 'teen' bracket, how to engage youth audiences to influence behaviour, whether that's preventative or informative and Penny shares lots of advice on how to improve the conversation, better understand the drivers of drug use and to develop the right mix of measures to indicate attitude and behaviours are changing. 

Penny mentions...

Stoner Sloth campaign https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/dec/20/stoner-sloth-anti-drug-campaign-gets-reality-check-as-medical-experts-walk-away 

YMCA $10 a day childcare https://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/news/local-news/ymca-child-care-refunds-start-toward-average-10-per-day-promise

Laced and Lethal in King County https://www.lacedandlethal.com/ 

Research using fake teen accounts to test how easy it is to use Instagram to access drugs https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/instagram-makes-it-very-easy-for-teens-to-find-drugs-on-the-platform/articleshow/88157357.cms 

Meta legit script approval https://en-gb.facebook.com/business/help/787684018620830 

Alistair has worked in digital marketing for over 12 years, with around 6 years working in the Higher Education sector. Currently working at The University of Manchester, he shares how he and his team reflect youth voice in the content they deliver, as well as value youth voice to shape the work that they do and inform how to get the tone right. 

We also find out what brand and campaign Alistair thinks do a great job of engaging a youth audience and what book and podcast he recommends we check out. 

Follow Alistair on Twitter https://twitter.com/alistairbeech 

On brands/campaigns that do a great job engaging youth audiences, Alistair shouts out PE with Joe Wicks  and Adidas 

Books: Predatory Thinking by Dave Trott

Podcasts: Social in Six by Social Chain  and Thought Feeder

The Importance of parental influence of youth engagement: How much influence do parents have and how do you reflect this in campaigns to children and young people?

This episode we speak to Nick Richardson, CEO of Kids Insights, global leaders in kids’ market intelligence, looking at attitudes, behaviours and consumption of children and their parents, in order to translate that to inform business.

As well as sharing reports on things such as how the world has changed since lockdown, what children’s wish list is looking like this Christmas as well as regular input from the parental perspective, they also make predictions based on trends and their clients are able to access real time data through their portal.

This episode, we look at global trends and differences on parental view, how the household is changing and what that means on parental influence on children’s activities and preferences.

You can find out more about Kids Insights here

We’re talking about connecting your brand to Gen Z with Alex Haider and Izzy Hall, Senior Content Executives from Pion, an agency that helps brand specialise in student and Gen Z audiences.

Pion is formerly known as Student Beans, Beans ID and Voxburner, before launching as Pion earlier this year. They also run the successful global event, Youth Marketing Strategy (YMS).

We talk about some of the insights from Pion’s recent Youth Trend Report, in particular unhelpful assumptions, tone of voice, aesthetics and pop culture and subcultures and whether cancel culture is done. Along with top tips from Alex and Izzy on how to better connect your marketing efforts with Gen Z we talk trends, insights and a ton of examples. 

Follow Izzy and Alex on LinkedIn

Things we talk about;

• Brat Summer and aesthetics (a blog from Alex)
• Monzo experiential campaign in the Trafford Centre, Flatmate Fortunes
• Surreal on LinkedIn
• RSPB on TikTok
• BBC Sport and the Olympics
• Tala on TikTok
• Glossier on TikTok
• Oatly and their OOH
• Ryanair on TikTok
• DuoLingo on TikTok and Make It Go Viral newsletter from Zaria Parvez
• 93% club on LinkedIn
• Word Tonic on LinkedIn and their website https://www.wordtoniccommunity.com/

The Importance of parental influence of youth engagement: How much influence do parents have and how do you reflect this in campaigns to children and young people? This episode we're extending this to talk about the role of parents and teachers, two of the most significant influencers on children and young people in their day-to-day lives. 

Amanda Vernalls, Head of Research & Insight at the Youth Sport Trust (YST), talks about the importance of these influencers when it comes to perhaps one of the biggest life skills going - being physically active. 

In their recent research, the children's charity have looked at the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on Children and Young People as well as what teachers perceived to be some of the biggest issues students were dealing with as they returned back to school following the first lockdown.

Amanda shares her thoughts on how teams can better develop campaigns by understanding their target audiences through research and why these key influencers in children and young peoples' lives are important to consider when wanting to engage young people. 

This week we speak with Dr Thomas Curran, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics. His research into the personality characteristics of perfectionism and cultural influences upon it have highlighted the growing impact of perfectionism on young people’s mental health, as well as what society needs to do to address it. 

Dr Curran’s research and articles https://www.lse.ac.uk/PBS/People/Dr-Tom-Curran

TED Talk on our obsession with Perfectionism https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_curran_our_dangerous_obsession_with_perfectionism_is_getting_worse?language=en 

Book recommendations 

Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection 

TED talk on the Power of Vulnerability by Brené Brown https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerability?language=en 

Karen Horney, Neurosis and Human Growth

More about Karen Horney and her work https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Horney 

Susan Cain, Quiet

TED talk, the Power of Introverts, Susan Cain https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts?language=en

Contact us @hearitpodcast or info@threadandfable.com 

Hear from Kyle Campbell, founder of the Education Marketer and self-confessed writer, content marketing evangelist and internet culture nerd. His newsletter and podcast bring updates, insights and examples from around the world of Higher Education.

We talk about the latest trends, how to drive relevant conversations with prospects as well as find out what youth stereotype annoys him the most. 

https://www.educationmarketer.co.uk/ 

https://www.educationmarketer.co.uk/podcast 

The content Kyle recommends.... 

• Beano Brain Youth Insights https://www.beanobrain.com/ 
• This Old Marketing https://www.thisoldmarketing.com/ 

The ‘youth vote’ is talked about regularly, often as an important group to get onside within any election – but what do political groups do to engage young people, listen, inform and influence? The podcast will explore this topic from a UK perspective in season 2, but we were fortunate enough to speak with Jessica Blair just before the US election and felt this episode was relevant to share with you now.

Jess works for Civic Nation in the US, a non-profit organisation that works to build grassroots movements to change the world, empowering young people to do so. Their Creative Alliance brings together creative and marketing expertise for good and they deliver impactful campaigns, combining their ability to convene some of the nation’s most high-profile stakeholders, celebrities and luminaries with direct organising and citizen engagement.

You can find out more about Civic Nation here and check out their 2020 Vote Loud campaign here.

We talk with Sarah Brown-Fraser, External Affairs Manager at the Activity Alliance, the national charity and leading voice for disabled people in sport and activity. Sarah is passionate about influencing change through inclusive, representative and accessible external affairs, and as one of the few disabled leaders in sport, continues to push for progress in her role at Activity Alliance and as a board member of Greater Manchester Moving. We talk about how young disabled people are accessing sport and activity, how we can improve our marketing and communications with them, representing different voices and lots of guides and tools to help us.

You can find Sarah on LinkedIn and Twitter (X)

https://www.activityalliance.org.uk/ 

Some of the fantastic resources we mention that Sarah and her team have created can be found here;

Inclusive Communications Guide

Inclusive Communications Factsheets

CIPR Inclusive Communications

Business Disability Forum

We speak with Dr Emma Ross, co-founder of the Well HQ and former Head of Physiology at the English Institute of Sport.

Emma has not only led research into the data gap that exists within high performance sport to better inform practice and performance of some of Britain’s leading female athletes, she has authored Train Like a Woman (Out March 2021) and launched the Well HQ to break down the barriers for women and girls when it comes to understanding women’s bodies and what this means for physical fitness and overall wellbeing.

We talk about why the gap exists, the impact it has on girls dropping out of sport and the importance of shifting the messaging not just to girls themselves but to the teachers, sports coaches and of course parents around them.

You can follow Emma here https://twitter.com/ezross?s=20  

You can find out more about the Well HQ here https://www.thewell-hq.com/

Train Like a Woman is Emma’s new book and is out soon! https://www.thewell-hq.com/work-with-us/books/

Hear Emma Ross talk with Maisie Hill about the power of periods on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/fTXbtQrxnLXBMjgZbq83Zf/can-you-harness-the-power-of-your-period

Research Emma mentions about lack of knowledge women have about their own bodies https://www.rcog.org.uk/better-for-women

This is the book Emma and I both read and found fascinating – How the Pill Changes Everything by Dr Sarah Hill https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/oct/19/dr-sarah-e-hill-how-pill-influences-womens-brains

Sport England Active Lives Data I mentioned https://www.sportengland.org/news/childrens-activity-levels-down-many-embrace-new-opportunities

Women in Sport girls data I mention https://www.womeninsport.org/research-and-advice/our-publications/reframing-sport-for-teenage-girls-building-strong-foundations-for-their-futures/

Drop in girls self-esteem/worth research I mentioned https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/EPI-PT_Young-people%E2%80%99s-wellbeing_Jan2021.pdf

Girls Active Campaign from Youth Sport Trust https://www.youthsporttrust.org/girls-active

Books by Maisie Hill which Emma recommends https://www.maisiehill.com/

The Female Pod which Emma recommends https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/female-athlete-podcast/id1501684789

This episode we speak to Emma Gilmartin, Head of Social Media and Student Communications at the University of Glasgow. 

We explore how to maintain an authentic voice across channels, why it's important to develop your community - particularly when issues arise -  and how all aspects of your community can play its part. 

Emma's award-winning activity at the University of Glasgow stems from the university's drive to be recognised as "world changers" yet reflective and supportive of its existing community and all things #TeamUofG - all of which is played out effectively through its social media presence. 

The Importance of parental influence of youth engagement: How much influence do parents have and how do you reflect this in campaigns to children and young people?

This episode we speak to Simon Lucey, MD of the Hype Collective, a student marketing agency that works with a breadth of brands whilst creating opportunities for students - from work experience, society funding or brand partnerships. But what’s particularly convenient is that they also really talk to their student audience and draw upon insights and research – often to dispel myths, explore ideas or get some good honest input.

They’ve shared ‘Parents As Influencers: The Research’ earlier this year and Simon’s TEDx talk, ‘Young People Are Screwed’, looks at the shift in audience power when it comes to age – all very relevant when we explore the notion of parents as influencers in their own right.

Follow Simon on Twitter @SiLucey 

This episode we're joined by Isobelle Panton, Director of Student Recruitment and International at University Academy 92, a higher education offering founded by the Manchester United Class of '92, in partnership with Lancaster University. 

We talk about adapting the higher education offer to youth audiences, challenging the typical format of an undergraduate learning experience and why championing student voice is key to staying relevant in an ever competitive market. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/isobelle/

https://mobile.twitter.com/isobellepanton 

https://ua92.ac.uk/

Rebecca mentions

Hyper Island as being a unique Higher Ed offering https://www.hyperisland.com/

Gary Neville on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@gneville2?lang=en 

Isobelle mentions 

Gymshark as a brand that knows its target youth audience https://uk.gymshark.com/ 

Gymshark's realistic mannequins https://hypebae.com/2022/11/gymshark-london-flagship-location-mannequins-community-body-positivity 

Ryan air as usally being brilliant on social

https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanair?lang=en

But no so much their mean tweet at Jordan Sancho https://talksport.com/football/1243911/ryanair-twitter-jadon-sancho-england-world-cup-squad/ 

This week we’re talking about the latest research into teen girls and sport with Tanya Martin, Insight Manager at Women in Sport, a national charity that works to give every woman and girl the opportunity to experience the transformational rewards of sport.

Tanya Martin

@Womeninsport_uk

Women in Sport: The Impact of COVID-19 on Girls Lives and Physical Activity, 2021 https://www.womeninsport.org/research-and-advice/our-publications/the-impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-on-teenage-girls-lives-and-physical-activity/                                                       

Women in Sport Reframing Sport for Teenage Girls 2019 https://www.womeninsport.org/research-and-advice/our-publications/reframing-sport-for-teenage-girls-building-strong-foundations-for-their-futures/ 

Tanya’s Recommendations

Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/en                                                         

Vans Off The Wall https://www.vans.co.uk/off-the-wall.html                       

Women In Sport Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-women-in-sport-podcast/id1477178369                                             

Girls Talk https://gurlstalk.libsyn.com/                                                       

The Psychology of Exercise by Josephine Perry

This episode we're talking all things behaviour change and health as we chat with communications specialist Leanne Hughes from NHS Lothian. We're starting this theme with perhaps the most tricky with youth audiences - sexual health.

How to avoid embarrassing, offending, or missing the point all together when it comes to getting vital messaging out to influence behaviours with a youth audience when it comes to sex? 

With millions of students around the world forced to learn at a distance during lockdown and many universities providing virtual solutions in the short term, how is technology aiding or disrupting the student experience – from recruitment through to learning?

This episode we speak with Eric Stoller, a thought leader in education technology and the student experience. With a background in student affairs, academic advising, student experience, career development, digital identity, wellness orientation, technology and communications, Eric has worked with literally hundreds of institutions, educational bodies and tech providers, both in the UK, Europe and the United States, where he is currently based.

You can find him on Twitter @EricStoller or for more about his work here

This episode we’re joined by Dr Josephine Perry, Chartered Psychologist, Founder of Performance in Mind, journalist and author. Having worked across a breadth of communications roles, from lobbying to being Communications Director at Nuffield Health, her own sporting experience took her into performance psychology, where she has worked with a breadth of athletes and written several books, including her latest book about teenage athletes. 

https://performanceinmind.co.uk/about/ 

@Josephineperry

Her Books: Performing Under Pressure, The Psychology of Exercise, I Can: The Teenage Athlete’s Guide to Mental Fitness

On the episode we mention: 

The Self Determination Theory 

https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/ 

Tsundoku - the Japanese term for buying too many books! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsundoku#:~:text=Tsundoku%20(Japanese%3A%20%E7%A9%8D%E3%82%93%E8%AA%AD),%E2%80%931912)%20as%20Japanese%20slang. 

Dr Perry’s recommendations: 

Barbie campaigns https://barbie.mattel.com/en-us/about/you-can-be-anything.html 

We talk about teenagers and why music is so important to them https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-teens-need-their-musi_b_9113178 

Her Spirit Podcast with BBC Presenter Louise Minchim and Triathlon Coach Annie Emmerson https://herspirit.buzzsprout.com/ 

Lockdown Parenting Hell Podcast with Josh Widdacombe and Rob Beckett https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rob-beckett-and-josh-widdicombes-lockdown-parenting-hell/id1510251497  

Doing it for the Kids Podcast with Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland http://www.doingitforthekids.net/diftk-podcast/ 

Caroline Criado Perez, author of Invisible Women’s newsletter https://carolinecriadoperez.com/ 

Alexander Preece, All Things Sport newsletter https://allthingssport.libsyn.com/ 

Sharn Meades-Williams newsletter https://www.sianmeadeswilliams.com/freelance-writing-jobs

Mara is the Director of Digital Communications for global youth charity, One Young World. Valuing a youth audience is one thing, but empowering it to create change is what One Young World is best known for. We talk about how Mara landed at One Young World, ask for advice on how to help develop young people's voice through different lines of communications and asked how they've done this through lockdown as well as how to convert that interest into activism. 

We also ask for where she turns to for inspiration;  Start Up Grind, Mission 1.5, Hubspot Newsletter

Follow Mara on Twitter https://twitter.com/mara_a_s  

As the pandemic continues to force the digitisation of the student experience, what opportunities have presented themselves over the past year - and more importantly, what might stay? We continue to explore technology and the student experience but in this episode we speak with Nathan Monk from Smile, the award-winning digital agency working with universities and colleges on websites and creative tech solutions. 

We explore the opportunities for creativity and exploring ideas throughout the pandemic and beyond not least due the fact that the student experience may not ever be the same again. 

Nathan shares what they've been working on, some predictions for the next couple of years and why he's become slightly obsessed with Twitch!

We’re talking all about “influence” in this episode with Jamie McCracken, Head of Agency at Protein in New York. Jamie’s experience of customer attitudes, behaviours and motivations has informed a whole host of insight reports and strategies, working with a whole host of brands from Nike, YEEZY and Red Bull to Google, Apple and Alexander Wang. 

@protein  https://www.proteinagency.com/ 

Protein’s ‘Dirty Words’ Research - Influence https://www.proteinagency.com/reports/dirty-words-influence 

Protein’s Youth Report https://www.proteinagency.com/reports/the-youth-report 

Jamie’s recommendations

Vfiles https://www.vfiles.org/ the foundation investing in the next generation of creators through grants, mentorship and soft skills training. 

Red Bull’s Music Academy https://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/ 

Protein Agency Supplement https://the-dots.com/pages/protein-71243 

Reply All podcast https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all

Economist Radio @EconomistRadio https://www.economist.com/podcasts 

Science of Secondary Magazine https://atelierhoko.com/category/science-of-the-secondary/

MacGuffin Magazine https://www.macguffinmagazine.com/ 

Trick Mirror, by Jia Tolentino https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/567511/trick-mirror-by-jia-tolentino/ 

This episode we welcome Bruce Daisley onto the podcast. Bruce previously ran Twitter's business and development across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Now a writer and consultant on better working, you can find his work https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/ 

Including his brand new book, Fortitude, which as he explains is all about resilience https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/fortitude/

Bruce recently wrote about Gen Z and handling stress, following some commentary that younger audience are weaker at work than ever. Something he argues, isn't the case. We explore this blog, why firms need to go beyond office snacks and table tennis to attract and retain young talent and what resilience and purpose should foster for younger audiences at work. 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/12/gen-z-stress-resilience 

Bruce mentions: 

Insight into US teens in lockdown from Jean Twenge https://ifstudies.org/ifs-admin/resources/final-teenquarantine2020.pdf 

Men's Sheds in Australia

Rebecca mentions

Teen Vogue article from young people who have disabilities and/or chronic illnesses https://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-young-disabled-and-chronically-ill-people-want-you-to-know 

We explore online life, pressure and perfectionism and its impact on bullying and mental health. Speaking to Sue Jones, Deputy CEO of global youth charity Ditch the Label. Its annual bullying report highlighted the 25% rise in bullying, attributing social media as a major cause, with 47% of young people saying they believe they were bullied based on their appearance. We explore what impact the pandemic has had on this and what we should consider as we build campaigns and initiatives engaging young people moving forward. 

Sue Jones @DtLSue 

Ditch the Label https://www.ditchthelabel.org @DitchtheLabel 

Annual Bullying Survey 2020: https://www.ditchthelabel.org/research-papers/the-annual-bullying-survey-2020/ 

Ditch the Label on Twitter https://twitter.com/DitchtheLabel 

Section 28: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28 

Boo Hoo Ditch the Label Video Insta Life vs Reality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EFHbruKEmw 

United Nations - Digital Rights https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/03/1088182 

Online Harms White Paper: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/online-harms-white-paper/online-harms-white-paper 

Sue's Recommendations

The Washington Post on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@washingtonpost?lang=en 

Fearless, by Ditch the Label CEO Liam Hackett https://www.ditchthelabel.org/how-to-be-fearless-an-interview-with-ditch-the-label-ceo-liam-hackett/

Contact us @hearitpodcast or info@threadandfable.com 

In our last episode on the theme of Technology and the Student Experience, we look at how our conversations with prospective students can begin at a very early stage and technology can enable how we can improve these very early impressions. 

We speak with Guy Andrews and Mark Higginson, experienced marketing and technology experts from Twenty Thousand Leagues and creators of Cues.ai. 

But importantly, we discuss why technology isn't an inevitable solution particularly when it comes to education, and why we need to remain focused on the experiences students get from education before jumping on the latest tech trend. 

Season 3 is back and to kick us off we hear from Brett Booth, youth marketing strategist, on what brands and organisations can do to better position themselves to engage youth audiences within their marketing. 

Brett is a former partner of Nerds, a UK youth agency working for major brands that celebrates artists and youth voice. Having worked on a whole breadth of campaigns to help brands better connect and appear culturally relevant to youth audiences, he's now working as a consultant, strategist and mentor. 

He talks about the importance of good insight to inform campaigns that actually deliver for brands and young people. 

Brands Brett mentions 

Palace Skateboards https://www.palaceskateboards.com/ 

Jordan Brand https://www.nike.com/jordan 

Cortiez from Clint https://www.voguebusiness.com/fashion/corteiz-clint-and-the-future-of-streetwear 

Tax3 https://tax3.co.uk/ 

This episode we hear from Ndubuisi Uchea, co-founder of Word on the Curb, a youth research and creative consultancy. Having literally established Word on the Curb to represent youth voice, particularly from minority and under represented groups, the YouTube platform grew to the creative, research and content agency it is today. 

https://www.wordonthecurb.co.uk/

Word on the Curb YouTube

Examples of work we talk about

• Adidas + Mother London
• Home Office #KnifeFree Chicken Box
• Organ Donation with the NHS
• Word on the Curb for Black History Month 'What I wasn't taught in school'

Ndu shares YouTube's Black Creators' community and how it's been a programme that engages young Black voices well, and invests in them. 

You can apply for the Black Creator Fund from YouTube here

We hear from Rodney Hinds, Sports Editor at the Voice Media Group. Author, broadcaster and lecturer, Rodney co-founded the Football Black List alongside another recent Hear It guest Leon Mann, and among numerous accolades, featured on the Diversity Powerlist this year. We talk about the British Black Voices research, in particular findings around young adults as well as sport and why what we see on the pitch and how it's dealt with, can play a significant role in society.

Rodney Hinds on LinkedIn

The Voice online

Black British Voices Research

Articles from Rodney

• Arsenal's Bukayo Saka on his visit to youngsters from where he grew up to dream big
• England paying the price for the Saka, Rashford and Sancho abuse
• Teenager jailed for Rashford abuse
• Rashford the most trolled athlete

Book recommendation: Why We Kneel How We Rise by Michael Holding

This episode we speak with Josh Akapo, co-founder of creative agency Archtype, who facilitate impactful moments of culture for the likes of Lovebox Festival, Stormzy and DLT. Josh also delivers creative research and insights at Hype Collective, a student marketing agency and is part of a youth mentoring non-profit, Joined Up Thinking, helping curate projects particularly for young people of colour to stand out and reach their potential. 

About Josh https://joshakapo.com/ 

@archtypeUK  https://archtype.co.uk/ 

Josh shares his views on improving ethnic diversity in PR https://www.prmoment.com/blog/how-you-can-help-to-increase-ethnic-diversity-in-pr 

Josh's work with Hype Collective on attractive LGBTQ+ Talent 

https://hypecollective.co.uk/news/research/were-over-the-rainbows-how-employers-can-actually-support-lgbtq-students/ 

https://hypecollective.co.uk/news/research/pulse-check-recap-attracting-lgbtq-talent/ 

Josh's recommendations

Spotify https://newsroom.spotify.com/2021-06-02/celebrate-your-unique-listening-style-with-spotifys-only-you-in-app-experience/ 

Big Zuu on Dave https://dave.uktv.co.uk/shows/big-zuus-big-eats/ 

Who We Be Talks Podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/2YissX4xRk9cU2r10620ol 

The Receipts Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-receipts-podcast/id1177040764 

Three Shots of Tequila Podcast https://thisis3shots.com/ 

Over the Bridge Podcast https://soundcloud.com/overthebridgeuk 

All About Love by Bell Hooks

The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good by Michael Sandel

A Short History of African Philosophy by Barry Hallen

This episode we speak with Jay Richards, Co-Founder of Imagen Insights - who's main aim is connecting brands and organisations with Gen Z for brutally honest insights. 

Their 1700+ consultants get opportunities to work with organisations, often getting opportunity to work directly on specific projects and most importantly, getting valuable experience and being paid for it. 

We talk about the chances of this direct discussion allowing more creativity, whether brands are ready to hear youth perspective and the fundamentals to get it right when wanting to work and create with a youth audience. 

Season 4 finale with host Rebecca Roberts joined by Ruth Dale and Nathan Monk to discuss behaviour change, tech and higher education. 

Ruth Dale is founder of the Behaviour Change Marketing Bootcamp, having worked across major national campaigns in the health and public sector. She shares her specialist understanding of behavioural science and how using it within behaviour change marketing campaigns can really help to influence action among a youth audience. 

Nathan Monk is cofounder of Smile and one of the brains behind Prospectus Plus, the innovative and personalised prospectus solution that is transforming the conversation around digitally tailoring recruitment journeys. We talk about how those shifts in recent years align to wider behaviours when it comes to tech, and why understanding human nature can help advance your campaign strategies. 

If you work in further or higher education, there's an early bird offer available to listeners for a special Behaviour Change Marketing Bootcamp hosted by Ruth and Rebecca on the 29th February https://www.behaviourchange.marketing/FEHE 

Find out about Prospectus Plus

Connect with Nathan

FInd out about Behaviour Change Marketing Bootcamp

Connect with Ruth

You can sign up for Rebecca's Engaging Youth update which comes out every Friday and brings you the latest insight and updates on youth audiences here https://www.threadandfable.com/ 

If you are interested in supporting the podcast or have an idea for an episode for next season contact info@threadandfable.com 

When it comes to creating campaigns and advertising that lands with young people, you'd fall pretty short of the mark if you weren't talking about culture. 

This episode we're speaking with Amy Kean, not only has she had a successful career in the advertising, media and PR industry for over 15 years, she's a lecturer, author, columnist and recently founded her own agency, Six Impossible Things as well as the DICE charter to improve the diversity and equality of industry events. 

If you don't already follow her on Twitter, you really should. We explored what makes advertising and campaigns to youth audiences work, what falls short and why International Men's Day feels tone deaf. 

This episode we hear from Rohini Kahrs, Communications Manager at the Runnymede Trust, which is the UK’s leading race equality think tank. From broadening the curriculum to exposing the Windrush scandal, the Trust’s work is rooted in challenging structural racism and its impact on our communities and has produced some incredible insight to continually challenge and influence progress towards racial equality.

Rohini on LinkedIn

Runnymede Trust https://www.runnymedetrust.org/

Rohini talks about

https://ifs.org.uk/inequality/press-release/lack-of-progress-on-closing-educational-inequalities-disadvantaging-millions-throughout-life/

Penguin Lit in Colour & their TikTok

Falling Further, Runnymede Trust 

Confronting Injustice: Racism and the Environmental Emergency. Runnymede Trust

Choked Up

Stormzy - Merky Books working with Penguin, Cambridge Scholarship

Universities have a complex campus community to reflect when it comes to engaging current and prospective youth audiences. Azeem Ahmad has worked in digital marketing for a while, moving from agency to client side and then over to the Higher Education sector, working as Digital Marketing Manager at Staffordshire University. 

He shares how he used data to inform his approach as well as talks on another issue he's been talking about recently too.... the lack of diversity at event line-ups. We also bring this into the context of how to ensure the right voices are amplified on campus to better reflect how diverse a campus community truly is. 

He also hosts his own podcast Azeem Digital Asks @azeemdigiasks 

We hear from Jim Tudor, Founder of Future Index, a trends consultancy specialising in higher education, on what the opportunities are for the sector, drawing on inspiration from around the world both in edcation and beyond. Jim is also a founding director of creative agency Waterfall, an education marketing agency. 

http://thefutureindex.com/

http://waterfall.agency/ 

Find Jim on Twitter and LinkedIn

As you might expect from a trends expert, Jim had a ton of great examples including...

• Greenpeace short courses including Storytelling
• Nottingham Trent University's Content Collective
• Loughborough University's Big Ideas sessions
• New York University smashing reels content
• Arts University Bournemouth with their VC Banksy conspiracy theory on TikTok
• Monash University, Melbourne Australia with their virtual reality of the future
• University of New South Wales
• University of Wollongong course finder
• Arizona State University World of Wonder
• Miami Ad School
• International University, Spain (IE University)
• ETH University Zurich
• UA92, Manchester 
• London Interdisciplinary School
• TEDI London. The Engineering and Design Institute

We’re joined by Yas Devi, Social Media Executive at RSPB and the brains behind the unhinged and wonderful ‘Bird of the Week’ and the rest of the charity’s TikTok channel. We talk about TikTok strategy, measures of success, cultural relevance and get Yas’s top accounts to follow as well as tips for success on the platform.

Follow Yas on LinkedIn here and check out the RSPB TikTok @rspb here

TikTok accounts Yas recommends we check out

• National Trust
• WWF UK
• Mind
• Ryanair
• Duolingo
• Scrub Daddy
• Empire State Building
• RNLI

Three best bits of advice for using TikTok to better engage a youth audience? Firstly, bringing the conversation to young people on the platform and never talking at them. The focus for the channel has been on building a community and conversation. Secondly, being authentic and organic on TikTok and using its tools to edit and develop content so that it works on there rather than being repurposed from other channels. Third, staying consistent with posting content, even when some don’t get big reach, consistency is key.

Here's a link to the University of Exeter research mentioned about connecting digital nature to real life connection with nature.

Other recommendations for LinkedIn follows include TikTok, Duolingo, Monzo, Girls in Marketing

If you like this episode and would like to put forward a guest, discuss sponsorship or work with Thread & Fable email info@threadandfable.com 

Please rate, review and subscribe - or simply share with someone you think will like it, as it really helps others find the podcast. 

This episode we hear from Alfie Laurence, creator and founder of Student Travel Tips, a resource and community that empowers students to embrace the world of travel. Young people are set to be the UK’s most prolific travellers in 2024 and we explore why this generation of British students are so driven to explore and why traditional content has fallen short. Alfie’s own experiences highlighted the gaps that existed, leading to the creation of Student Travel Tips.

https://www.studenttraveltips.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/studenttraveltipsuk/

Things Alfie talks about

Amica App, former app that focused on creating safe space for solo female travellers

Earthrise Studio, environmental storytelling media company https://www.earthrise.studio/

Your Juno, Fintech platform, gamifying financial education focusing on women and non-binary people. https://www.yourjuno.co/

Damon Dominique, travel community and newsletter https://damondominique.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/damondominique

This week we’re joined by Nafisa Shafiq, Student Communications Manager at the University of Leeds. Nafisa’s experience across a breadth of sectors had always been driven by the desire for more inclusive communications, not just within her role in higher education, but in the wider sector and indeed her own career and this episode we talk about how student communications have faired over the past year and how she approaches tone of voice, communicating key messages and how to instill allyship as part of student communications. 

You can find Nafisa on Twitter here @NafisaShafiq and her blog https://nafisashafiq.com/ 

Nafisa’s blog on allyship on Comms2Point0 https://comms2point0.co.uk/comms2point0/2021/3/15/everyone-has-the-ability-to-be-an-ally 

Nafisa’s Recommendations 

Brands that really lived up to their discussion of Black Lives Matter, particularly to youth audiences that Nafisa references:  

Ben & Jerry’s https://www.benjerry.com/about-us/media-center/dismantle-white-supremacy 

Manchester United https://www.manutd.com/en/news/detail/mu-foundation-take-a-stand-with-support-for-kick-it-out-initiative# 

Nike’s Just Don’t Do It anti-racism campaign https://news.nike.com/news/nike-for-once-don-t-do-it-film 

Dave Musson from The Access Platform shares his view on why peer to peer student content is the best way to reflect youth voice. 

Hear about how his career has brought him to TAP, what makes for the best youth content and how to manage it without being overly prescriptive. 

An experienced podcaster himself, on everything from Slipknot to his beloved Coventry Bears team, he also shares what he listens to for inspiration.

We mention: Nike, Inspiration on TAP  , Reply All, Heavyweight, 

Follow Dave on Twitter https://twitter.com/davemusson 

We’re starting Season 5 off with a conversation on the future of news media, with Nic Newman, Senior Research Associate at Reuters Institute, University of Oxford.

A journalist and digital strategist, Nic played a key role in shaping the BBC’s internet services for over a decade and was a founding member of the BBC News Website. He led international coverage as World Editor and as Head of Product Development for BBC News helped introduce innovations such as blogs, podcasting and on-demand video. More recently he’s led digital teams, developing websites, mobile and interactive TV applications for news, sport, weather and local. Nic played an important part in the development of social media strategies and guidelines for the wider BBC.

At Reuters, he shares a breadth of research that unpacks the trends in news media consumption, evolving technology including AI, the impact of social-first and what this means for a younger news audience as we look ahead.

Follow Nic:

@nicnewman on X and on LinkedIn

Reuters Institute research we mention:

Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2024

The kaleidoscope: tracking young people’s relationships with new

AI and the future of news

How publishers are learning to create and distribute news on TikTok

7 ways to create a newsroom Gen Z will want to stay in

Other things we mention;

What does news media mean to Gen Z?: An investigation into the media habits of Gen Z in the UK (Feb 2024)

FT Strategies. Unlocking the potential of younger audiences: securing tomorrow’s readers

People vs Algorithms Podcast