CASE STUDIES
From Dad Jokes to Dispatches
How Better Said helped a fatherhood community carry Ukrainian families' stories beyond the headlines.
#1
Largest online community for dads in the UK
4+
Shows in Dadsnet's regular podcast slate
Background
Dadsnet is the UK's largest online community for fathers, built by founder Al Ferguson since 2016 on a simple belief: dads are a fundamental part of a healthier society and deserve as much support as mums get.
In practice, that's meant a content slate built almost entirely on warmth and humour. Podcasts such as How To Be A Dad, the bi-weekly Dadsnet Show, and Little Conversations (turning kids' wildest one-liners into comedy gold) are staples of the slate.
The Challenge
A trust built on dad jokes,
asked to carry something heavier
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the news cycle filled fast with maps, military analysis, and politics. What got crowded out was the version of the story Dadsnet's community would actually recognise: fathers, like them, making impossible decisions about their kids' safety.
Brand stretch risk
A network known for dad jokes pivoting to war coverage risked looking opportunistic, or simply out of its depth.
Access & trust
Reaching fathers living through active conflict, and earning enough trust for them to speak openly, without a newsroom's resources.
Tone
Honour real suffering without flattening people into statistics or trauma narration.
Purpose vs. exploitation
Honour real suffering without flattening people into statistics or trauma narration.
The Strategy
Enter Families on the Frontline
Jack from Better Said proposed a new podcast and visual content strand for Dadsnet, speaking to parents on the front line on the Ukraine conflict to hear the real stories of parenting in an active war zone - from the difficult decisions, to the separation, to the hopes and fears for the future.
Kept the format, raised the stakes
One person, one story, in their own words. It featured the same intimate interview style as every other Dadsnet show, giving unfamiliar subject matter somewhere safe to land.
Named, not abstracted
Episodes are titled by first name; Pavel, Sergey, Maxim, Vadym, Tetiana. This resists the faceless “crisis” narrative in favour of individual humanity.
The Strategy
Same format, far higher stakes
We changed almost nothing about Dadsnet's format, but almost everything about its subject matter.
Editorial restraint over sensationalism
Episodes sit with resilience and hope as much as danger and loss. The aim is to humanise, not shock.
One clear call to action
Every episode closes with the same simple ask: donate to the British Red Cross. Cause-first, not a sponsor read.
Distribution through existing trust
Produced by Better Said and Dadsnet Media Group, distributed by Dadsnet, reaching an audience that already trusted the brand, rather than cold-starting a new one.
The series sat in Apple Podcasts' News category - a first for a brand whose other shows live in Comedy and Kids & Family.
RESULTS & METRICS
Not a downloads story. A trust story.
The series reached a modest, niche audience, and that's the point worth making, not hiding. The value chased here was relevance and integrity, not reach.
Genuine brand range, proven once
A comedy and parenting network demonstrated it could carry serious subject matter without losing its voice or its audience's trust, giving them a massive credibility asset for future pitches.
Category crossover
This was the first Dadsnet show to sit in Apple Podcasts' News category, evidence the content was taken on its own editorial terms, not read as a stunt.
Emotionally engaged listening
Audience reactions consistently describe empathy and a desire to act, giving exactly the response a cause-led series is built to produce.
A bridge from listening to action
Every episode converted attention into one concrete next step: the British Red Cross donation link.