Identify, investigate, design, communicate

We won't try and mystify what we do - Goodwork's methodology is simple.  The most important principle is that we try and keep the real experts - the people who we want to take action - with us every step of the way.   Our methodology is best described in four stages: target audience identification (find them), investigation (ask them), communication programme design (act on what they have to say) and programme communications (involve them).

Identification: Recently we've been asked to talk to the Chinese community about their experience of the health system, people who aren't in education or training about getting back to work and people who don't have broadband about the benefits it can bring them.  These people aren't really "hard to reach", but sometimes we need help identifying them and we often enlist the help and advice of community organisations to achieve this.

Investigation:  We undertake ‘detective work’ with our audience - listening and learning to find out what people are really thinking and what will motivate them to act.  We're looking for an indepth understanding of our audience and that Eureka moment to trigger our thinking.  For example, in a previous investigation, young mums told us that their main reason for taking up basic skills courses was wanting to help their kids with their school work - simple, but their comments informed our whole approach. 

Communication programme design: We treat the conclusions from our investigation as expert advice and base our strategy around our findings to ensure that we reach people with the right message, in the right place, in the right frame of mind.

Programme communications: This is where we get really creative.  To get a message across in our multi-media age, we need to grab collars and blow trumpets.   Wherever possible, we will continue to involve our investigation participants - we view the investigation itself as an integral part of the communications process and the participants and their peers as experts, champions and advocates.  We place particular value on community marketing techniques, including ‘evangelistic’ events and live shows and spreading the word via local authorities, youth groups, libraries, hospitals, cinemas, theatres and visitor attractions – going wherever it takes to get noticed. 

And our methods of getting noticed are anything but conventional.

We’ve toured the country with a son et lumière show; formed a pop group who sang live on BBC’s Tomorrow’s World; developed an interactive robot; followed the cranes to tell Polish construction workers about free English lessons and, with the able assistance of assorted magicians, clowns and acrobats, told a story to 1000 children.  

The creative possibilities are endless, but are always completely grounded by the real motivations and needs of our target audience.