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Case Study

Audible Canada

Bringing equitable opportunities to Canada’s underserved writers

Bringing equitable opportunities to Canada’s underserved writers

 

The Challenge

Audible, one of the world’s leading content producers and distributors, is on a mission to improve the lives of those with less privilege wherever it operates. In Canada, Audible’s platform is growing in popularity, bringing its vast library of audio entertainment to all corners of the nation. In order to ensure it was living its mission, Audible Canada engaged Yulu to help identify some of Canada’s most prevalent challenges and the communities most affected by them, to inform the creation of a platform to engage and support underserved audiences nationwide.

The Solution

Yulu worked with Audible on a 6-month research project to identify Canada’s greatest social challenges and explore opportunities for impact. The team researched affordable housing, mental health, clean water, and Indigenous rights. This time, the stakeholder interview process required a different approach. Rather than focusing on the Audible Canada team, Yulu dug deeper. We connected with members of Audible’s global community to explore what it means to truly Activate Caring in the community. Activate Caring is Audible’s global social responsibility commitment which guides and informs its social responsibility and impact work.

The Result & Impact

Throughout stakeholder interviews and the research process, Yulu understood the importance of choosing an issue where Audible could make an outsized impact.Our recommendation: bringing equitable opportunities to underserved groups, especially Indigenous Peoples. Once this impact theme was identified, Yulu and Audible set to work establishing a nationwide mentorship and writing program for emerging Indigenous writers, connecting participants with well-known and established First Nations, Metis and Inuit writer and creator mentors. All 15 emerging Indigenous writers completed the program, which resulted in several conversations with publishers and agents – yielding including two confirmed book deals, and two participants signed with agents. The program's media relations efforts resulted in 71 total media stories, 16.8M impressions, and 78,600+ touchpoints with our target First Nations, Inuit and Métis audience through trusted and culturally relevant sources. Now in its third year, we've seen a 56% year-over-year increase in applicants for the program, indicating we're filling a need in the Indigenous literary arts community.

“Yulu’s global expertise and skillful execution of IWC in CA was essential to the success of the program, which we attribute in large part to their talented team, thoughtful approach, and commitment to cultural authenticity.”