What does it mean to Be Your Own champion?
That’s what the Award in Australia is asking of its national young people this year through their brand new campaign targeted specifically at 14-16 year olds.
Launched in January 2023, the social media campaign is the first of its kind nationally and globally for The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award.
Running from January until May paid advertising videos hyper-targeted to 14-year-olds will go live on the channels this demographic are known to consume regularly (TikTok, YouTube and Instagram).
The Award is challenging young people to ‘Be Your Own Champion’. Calling on young people specifically from across the country to take up the Award and discover their inner champion. The definition of Champion can mean something different to everyone. Finding your champion instinct through the Duke of Ed is both accessible and attainable and the campaign will show this through the breadth of activities we showcase.
On viewing the video in the advert, the audience is then directed to a campaign landing page , where they can lodge an Expression of Interest form.
Meanwhile Award Centres that already run the Award are being supported through the provision of a bright and colourful ToolKit with creative assets to promote the campaign in their school or youth organisation (i.e. through posters, email signature banners, PowerPoint presentation template and social media tiles, in the campaign look and feel).
Find out more here.
How it all began
In August 2020, The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award – Australia’s National Board formed a Brand, Marketing and Communications Committee. The Committee is made up of experts and industry leaders in strategic marketing, brand research, digital, media and communications and chaired by IAF Trustee, Anita Jacoby AM.
The role of the Committee was to create effective communications and marketing solutions, aligned with the Strategic Plan, to help drive Australia’s 2025 Strategic Headline Goals of:
- 75,000 new registrations each year
- 60% completion rate
- 25% diversity
The work of the Committee focused on ensuring the Headline Goals are supported by:
- Evidence-based data and insights gained through brand and customer research along with internal research and data.
- Testing that the value of the brand is accurately aligned with what the Award is delivering to all of its stakeholders today and into the future.
- Developing recommendations to deliver against the 2025 Strategic Plan that engage young people including identifying audience segments, the platforms to reach them, the key messages and campaign themes.
To understand the awareness levels of the Award in Australia and reveal where the true opportunities lie, it was determined key research was needed. Endorsed by the National Board, the Committee and NAO commenced a comprehensive research project consisting of three stages:
Stage 1:
- Brand Awareness and Reputation Research (understanding the awareness, perception and reputation of the brand in Australia) undertaken by RepTrak
- Interim Positioning Statement developed that clearly identifies who they are, what they do and what they want to be known for.
Stage 2:
- Youth Engagement and Market Research (the values, challenges and key drivers of young people and how the Award can address these to drive more relevance today and tomorrow). This included a gap analysis and audience profiles on young people in Australia undertaken by Kantar
Stage 3:
- Development of a first of its kind brand awareness campaign, hyper-targeted at the market segment identified as the biggest opportunity to reach our targets for the Award in Australia (i.e. 14-year-olds).
The Result
The “Be Your Own Champion” campaign is the culmination of 2.5+ years’ work in developing a strategic approach to the Award’s Marketing and Communications portfolio.
This investment in evidence-based strategic marketing is designed to align with the Award’s 2025 Strategic Goals with the aim to increase brand awareness and demand for the Award in Australia.
The Award challenges young people to find your purpose, passion and place in the world to become #WORLDREADY
It is a life-changing experience. A time to build connections and friendships. An opportunity for participants to discover new interests and talents. A way to develop important skills for life and work. It can even help a young person get a job or with their higher education goals.
Achieving the Award isn’t a competition or about being first, it’s all about setting personal challenges and getting out of your comfort zone.
All of this is at the heart of the Award in Australia’s exciting new national campaign.
BE YOUR OWN CHAMPION
In addition The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award – Australia will be working to secure press and media coverage to coincide with the launch of the campaign.
So why not follow them on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and TikTok to see how it all unfolds?
