Engaging young adults to make a genius decision

Challenge

The impact of COVID-19 on employment figures in Wales was stark. According to the ONS, 71,000 people were unemployed and looking for work in Wales in November 2020. 25,000 more than the same time the previous year. The impact of unemployment was hitting younger adults hardest: under-25s accounted for three in five jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our brief was to stimulate awareness and engagement of apprenticeships amongst employers and individuals in Wales, specifically targeting industries thriving through the pandemic and individuals who had been most impacted, 16–24-year-olds, to encourage improved levels of participation.

Solution

We created a campaign to drive awareness and engagement of Apprenticeships amongst 16–24-year-olds, to encourage improved levels of participation.

Our insight told us that family and teachers are most influential for young people when making decisions about their future, and that institutional trust increases amongst young people when organisations partner with each other.  Our public sector campaign team developed a creative advertising strategy that would attract the attention of young people through increased authenticity and relevance.

To generate awareness, we utilised channels highly used by young people to serve video content relevant to their age including TikTok, Snapchat, Youtube, VOD, Facebook and a Spotify takeover – this resulted in over 19.7mil impressions, with our video content being viewed over 6 million times.

To actively engage our audience, a Snapchat filter was created and shared over 40,000 times, and Esports Wales tournament sponsored to tap into the 44.6% of 16-24 year olds who take part in console or PC gaming each week – which generated almost 30,000 competition entries.

To influence parents, we secured partnerships with influential business figures Peter Perry, CEO at Welsh Water, and Sophie Howe, Future Generations Commissioner who shared their experiences of apprenticeships to tackle misconceptions. For teachers, we provided engaging video content and we partnered with Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru to create a bilingual interactive lesson around apprenticeships, to challenging stereotypes.