Understanding a diverse diaspora audience

The Cypriot Federation in the UK wanted to grow its reach, but their audience spans everyone from 18-year-olds to people in their 70s — with wildly different levels of interest in Cyprus-related issues. Before any comms or social strategy could work, they needed to get clearer on who they were actually trying to talk to.

We started with a four-hour discovery workshop to align on challenges and nail down priority audiences. Then we ran 10 in-depth interviews with Cypriots living across the UK, digging into identity, media habits, and how people felt about the Federation's current presence and tone. All of that got distilled into three core personas, plus a report covering brand perception, content preferences, event feedback, and where things felt exclusionary.

I co-led the project as Senior Designer — facilitating the workshop, running all ten interviews, and leading the persona development and final report. A big part of my focus was drawing out themes around brand perception, inclusivity, and why younger audiences felt disconnected from what the Federation was putting out.

The research gave the Federation a much sharper picture of who their audience is and what they actually want. It surfaced real gaps in tone, brand appeal, and youth engagement — and pointed toward the need for modernisation, better regional inclusion, and more varied events beyond the political. They came away with personas and practical guidance to shape outreach that feels more relevant and more inclusive.

Even well-established organisations benefit from slowing down and listening properly. This project showed that honest research and a willingness to reflect can unlock a lot — and open the door to engagement strategies that actually resonate.