As I have reached the end of the Live Project period, I wanted to explore my findings and the discoveries that have developed through my research.
The main aim of this project has been to investigate how the charity sector could utilise podcast technology as a marketing tool. Throughout the 10 weeks attributed to my research I have conducted interviews, carried out observations, executed content analysis and critically examined academic reviews, which have subsequently enabled me to establish findings which have gone on to inform my final industry report.
Research Findings
How can we think about marketing?
One of the most important findings discovered throughout this project revolves around the way in which we define marketing. Every organisation and every marketing strategy has different goals, and although it is often assumed that the most important goals involve the making of money, this project has reinforced the importance of marketing in terms of developing audience experiences. The Interviews and the analysis of literature carried out for this project reflected a shift in the marketing landscape, that no longer focuses on directly selling to audiences but prioritising the activities that establish relationships with the audience.
Charity Marketing and podcasting, whats the connection?
The findings established through this project have also enlightened various connections between the two industries at its core. The content analysis and interviews conducted for objectives 1 and 2 illuminated how both content created for charity marketing and the podcast landscapes share a variety of themes and formats. For example it was clear that both industries utilise the importance storytelling as a tool of communication, and themes of inspiration and information were consistently conveyed within both formats. Once determined these findings highlight a correlation between the two formats which could suggest that podcasts are already being created in a ways that could effectively integrate within the approaches currently at the forefront of charity marketing.
To find out in more depth about the results of my research and the findings uncovered, please see my final report, available here
What else have I learnt?
I feel its also important to include here a note on the more general findings I have made throughout this project. As mentioned during the mid project blog post, one of the key challenges I faced during this research was adapting my own time management approaches. And although this proved somewhat difficult in the early stages, upon reflection I have learnt that this has actually become something I have enjoyed. The freedom provided to the researcher through the live project framework, has given me with the opportunity to put to use the knowledge and skills i have been working hard to develop over the last three years. This experience has taught me not only about podcasting and charity marketing but also about how research and innovation are vital to the wider industry landscapes.
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