The Hear It Podcast

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  

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'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

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 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   

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/

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 

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 

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 

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 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

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 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?  She's commissioned work including an over-sized cartoon willy running around Edinburgh to promote online condom ordering (nil points from Instagram but a laugh from the intended audience) and animations about access to abortion services (in several European countries), which have been classed as acceptable as a clinical consultation by the RCT research attached to the work.    https://www.ccard.org.uk/   https://www.healthyrespect.co.uk/Pregnancy/abortion/Pages/default.aspx

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 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. 

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. 

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!

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

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.

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. 

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

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 

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.

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.     

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     

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  

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