Challenge

The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected young people in Wales. Disruption to their education, isolation from their friends and families and a constant stream of negative news across social media left many feeling unoptimistic about their future.

To ensure there was no lost generation in Wales after the pandemic, the “Young Person’s Guarantee” was announced; the Welsh Government’s commitment to giving all 16-24 year olds in Wales the offer of a place in education or training, support finding a job or starting their own business.

Our challenge was to get young people to feel optimistic about their future and access support, advice, and guidance via Working Wales.

Solution

Our ambition was to offset the negativity with constant positivity. Across paid, earned, owned, and shared channels we implemented the “Feed your positivity” campaign. At its core a campaign that delivers good news, disruptive facts and celebrates the small wins in life – with the Young Person’s Guarantee now being a part of this good news.

Our 30” TVC ad was written with the people it will help – 16–24-year-olds. Ensuring the campaign was authentic and resonated with them, with 4 standalone social media edits expressing further detail on what’s on offer as part of the guarantee. This was brought to life through an impactful, multi-media approach, with a diverse range of young people from across Wales delivering the message directly to their peers in both Welsh and English.

To further amplify our positivity across social media, we created the “Positive News Team”, a curated collective of advisors, influencers and celebrities to deliver positive messages about young people’s futures to both them and their parents. Re-enforcing the support available and how to access it.

Results

In the period ending January 2023, the following results were obtained from 16-24-year-olds

1 in 5 were aware of the guarantee.

1 in 2 would take up the guarantee for themselves.

2 in 3 wanted to find out more about what the guarantee could offer them.

3 in 5 would encourage someone else under 25 to take up the offer or find out more.