World of Difference

Background

Each year the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation pays the salary and expenses for up to six people to work for the charity of their choice. This year's focus was on charities that care for at-risk children and youth. With a reduced budget and an objective of attracting higher quality candidates the strategy needed to be highly targeted and gain maximum impact.

Idea

Although New Zealanders give generously to charities, they are less than sympathetic towards young people they see as heading down a troubled path, more inclined instead to label them as 'trouble'. Not only are there few people who would like to help young people, but most of those who would like to could never consider doing so because they couldn't afford to give up their current job. It was these compassionate people that the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation wanted to reach. Aim Proximity needed to tap into their sense of empathy and concern for young people who are potentially misjudged and misunderstood.

Their idea was simply to ask, 'can you see the potential in New Zealand Youth?'. The strategy was to show young people engaged in activities that most people would consider destructive or anti-social. These images were then countered with a simple headline that showed what these people could become with the support of someone who saw their potential. So, instead of seeing a tagger, we see a potential art teacher; instead of a drunk girl ranting, we see a poet. The copy then challenged the reader, asking if they are the kind of person who can recognise the potential in New Zealand youth? Community press, street posters, ambient and online media were used to target the general public, while targeted DM went to previous applicants and key stakeholders. Hot prospect youth charities were sent an over sized out box. The idea being, you could get through a whole lot more work if Vodafone were paying for a full time employee. All other contacts within youth charities were sent what appeared to be their own CV. The idea being, you’ll get through a lot more work with another 'you'.

Results

This campaign attracted 155 high quality applications, an increase of over 50% from the previous year. The client was overwhelmed with the quality of the leads and almost all of the applicants are worthy of one of the six places, ensuring a pool of potential talent for years to come. In addition, the website received 19,973 visits, up 37% from the previous year, despite a lower budget. The campaign also achieved the highest click through rate for an eyeblaster in New Zealand. This 0.5% result was derived from 965,100 impressions on the YahooXtra site.

Target Audience

Different channels and tactics were used to reach the different audiences. Community press, outdoor posters, ambient and online targeted the general public, while DM targeted key stakeholders and past applicants. Overall the campaign was trying to reach people who are passionate about helping troubled youth.

Our Thoughts

How do you get the best candidates to apply to work for a year with children at-risk? Aim Proximity’s idea was to create a highly targeted and provocative campaign that challenges people’s preconceptions. It’s almost the first step in the application proce if this gets you thinking, then you’re just the kind of person that’s needed. We particularly liked the ambient element of the frame around the graffiti, which draws attention to both the ‘problem’ and the question in situ.