The Hear It Podcast
How can we better engage youth audiences through our marketing, communications and campaigns? Back for Season 5, the Hear It Podcast speaks with guests from a whole range of sectors and backgrounds, on how they understand, engage and work with young adults and children and explore what we can learn to inform our marketing and communications approach. The Hear It Podcast brings you insights, ideas, stories and advice on how to talk to a Millennial, Gen Z and Alpha audience. Hosted by Rebecca Roberts, Founder of marketing and communications consultancy Thread & Fable. This podcast is for you if you have a youth audience and you want inspiration and ideas on how to better listen and talk to them.
Episodes

Thursday Nov 10, 2022
Bruce Daisley on Gen Z in the workplace
Thursday Nov 10, 2022
Thursday Nov 10, 2022
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

Thursday Nov 03, 2022
Brett Booth on Gen Z Appeal in Marketing
Thursday Nov 03, 2022
Thursday Nov 03, 2022
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/

Friday Oct 28, 2022
Technology and the student experience with Mark Higginson and Guy Andrews
Friday Oct 28, 2022
Friday Oct 28, 2022
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.

Wednesday Jul 21, 2021
Josh Akapo from Archtype on Youth Voice and Culture
Wednesday Jul 21, 2021
Wednesday Jul 21, 2021
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

Tuesday Jun 29, 2021
Jamie McCracken from Protein New York on ”Influence”
Tuesday Jun 29, 2021
Tuesday Jun 29, 2021
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/

Tuesday Jun 22, 2021
Dr. Josephine Perry on Teens, Psychology & Sport
Tuesday Jun 22, 2021
Tuesday Jun 22, 2021
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

Tuesday Jun 15, 2021
Tanya Martin from Women in Sport on Teens vs Sport
Tuesday Jun 15, 2021
Tuesday Jun 15, 2021
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

Tuesday Jun 08, 2021
Nafisa Shafiq from the University of Leeds on Allyship in Student Communications
Tuesday Jun 08, 2021
Tuesday Jun 08, 2021
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

Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
Emma Leech from Nottingham Trent University on What’s Next for Higher Education
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
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/

Tuesday May 25, 2021
Jim Dickinson from WONKHE on What’s Next for Higher Education
Tuesday May 25, 2021
Tuesday May 25, 2021
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