An Interview With...Sam Conniff

‘An Interview with... Sam Conniff’:  The co-founder of Livity predicts rise in young people creating socially-led businesses and reveals a preference for Facebook over Twitter

8 March 2011

Sam Conniff, co-founder of socially responsible youth communications agency Livity, describes the impact of involving young people in the co-creation of marketing strategies and discusses the opportunities available to them in the industry in the March edition of “An Interview With…”, the monthly podcast series by The Social Investment Business.

Conniff shares his experiences of young people being at the heart of developing marketing campaigns for big multi-national clients. He discusses their inclusion in the planning and creation stages and how this changed the way large brands, such as the publishers Penguin, engage and interact with young people. Considering the increasingly competitive youth employment market, Conniff also provides some key advice to young people hoping to enter the world of marketing. He pinpoints the digital space as a market which young people can contribute to greatly. Furthermore he urges young people to “hang on to some different thinking”, not to try to morph into what they think adults want, and stick to the ideas and values of youth.

When asked what he considered is ahead for social enterprise, Conniff cites much greater engagement with the private and commercial sector as the greatest chance for growth. He believes the current economic climate and the way modern technology makes starting-up easier will lead to more young people founding socially led businesses. Conniff also reveals his own preference for Facebook over Twitter in the quick fire quiz.

‘An Interview With...’ is a monthly podcast series from The Social Investment Business featuring short interviews with leading figures in social enterprise and civil society.

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1.  Listen to ‘An Interview With... Sam Conniff and read the full transcript here: http://www.thesocialinvestmentbusiness.org/aninterviewwith/

2.  For more information about Livity visit: http://livity.co.uk/

3.  Check out the resources section on The Social Investment Business website: http://www.thesocialinvestmentbusiness.org/resources/

4.  For further information or interviews, please contact The Social Investment Business press office:

Liz Banks - 0207 842 7726/ 07809 504072  liz.banks@socialinvestmentbusiness.org

Nicola Jones - 0207 842 7755 nicola.jones@socialinvestmentbusiness.org

5. The Social Investment Business, the fastest growing social investor in the UK, exists to help social enterprises, charities and community organisations do more of what they do best – supporting people and communities most in need. We help organisations prosper by providing innovative financial solutions, business support and long term strategic thinking.

www.thesocialinvestmentbusiness.org @TheSocialInvest

6. The Social Investment Business manages Government funds on behalf of the Office for Civil Society, the Department of Health and the Department for Communities and Local Government, with over 1,000 active investments. These range from £3,600 to help a small organisation bid successfully for a public sector contract, to £6.7million to help a large national charity establish and develop innovative new services for children and young people.