Activity Alliance: 'No one-size-fits-all approach in communications'
Activity Alliance External Affairs manager Sarah Brown-Fraser guest-starred on the ‘Hear It’ podcast in November to talk about her extensive experience in communications.
The ‘Hear It’ podcast, now in its fourth season, regularly explores campaigns, ideas and insights to improve engaging youth audiences through marketing and communications. Sarah was interviewed by Rebecca Roberts, podcast host and founder of marketing and communications consultancy Thread and Fable.
Sarah, who has worked in marketing and communications for over 20 years, is passionate about influencing change through inclusive, representative and accessible external affairs. One of few disabled leaders working in sports marketing, she often speaks and trains others on inclusive communications and its importance in everyone's work. Sarah leads a team of specialist advisors in communications, media, campaigns and public affairs at Activity Alliance.
During the 20-minute show, Sarah discussed how if we all take a wider lens on our communication planning and delivery, we can reach more people. By ensuring inclusion and accessibility is part of your communications planning right from the start, not an add on, less people will be excluded. Everyone in their lifetime will have preferences and habits that affect how the receive and understand information. Disabled people are no different. There may be bigger barriers to consider, but if thought through properly, the solutions can support so many more within our target audiences.
Sarah said within the podcast:
“There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. If you want to reach more people, you have to think differently about communications. Effective marketing and communications that is inclusive and accessible is essential for all organisations.
“I’m really proud of what we’ve done in inclusive communications at Activity Alliance and are still doing. In 2014 we wrote the Inclusive Communications Guide, which is available on our website. Then we developed a series of factsheets and started doing workshops, and really training the sport and leisure sector to think differently about their communications. We’ve helped many organisations to audit, develop or improve their communications and campaigns in a more inclusive and accessible way.”
Listen to the ‘Hear It’ podcast with Sarah Brown-Fraser here.
Access Activity Alliance’s free inclusive communications resources here.
