Play

A demonstration of

• > Activation
• > Active Engagement
• > Client partnership
• > Data / Analytics / Tools
• > Digital/Online
• > Earned
• > Integration
• > Multimedia
• > Owned
• > Paid
• > Research / ROI
• > Social media / Mobile / Emerging
• > Sponsorship
• > Tools

Training and Development Agency for Schools: Don't sell, nudge.

We persuaded the TDA and our partner agencies that their biggest decision wasn’t the content of the TV ad, but how to use media to ‘nudge’ candidates along the application process.

The challenge

The TDA is the government organisation responsible for recruiting up to 40,000 new teachers every year. The largest share comes from 'Career Switchers', graduates aged 25+ changing jobs. They rate a teaching career as highly as students do, but responses had been dwindling since 2005. In research, they compared the switch to emigrating, or leaping out of a plane. The convoluted application process makes drop-out even more likely.

Our insight

Candidates' progress is human, not linear: stops and starts, decisive then uncertain. Procrastination rules: the idea of teaching is persuasive, but actually becoming a teacher seems risky. This insight shifted our communications: we stopped selling the profession, and began helping Career Switchers into the job. Media strategy led, and the campaign became a pinball machine, keeping people 'in play', as media levers nudged people forward, on to application.

Our solution

Our phasing reflected the decision-making process. Year-round activity replaced big campaign bursts. We targeted people at low moments: commuter press on Monday mornings, posters in October and January, and TV focused on Sunday-Tuesday.

We used real teachers to provide positive and authentic images of the job. They featured in Facebook profiles, as consultants at events, in video diaries and as case studies used in our online and press partnerships, and across all the advertising.

Most importantly, we prioritized media that got people to do something. Search, online display and re-targeting harvested interest. We created video diaries, teacher blogs, and webchats with TDA consultants to drive consideration.  Press, online display and video footage promoted live events, and incentivised pre-registration. We used Facebook to let candidates ask specific questions.

The results

The campaign worked brilliantly. Site traffic was up 40%, the rich content made registration more likely, and we answered 6000 questions on Facebook. We smashed all targets, too: some subjects had 40% more applications than places available, eligibility levels rose by 24%, Career Switcher applications increased by 35%. And the campaign was the difference: along with DDB's Les Binet, one of the industry's foremost econometricians, we stripped out all other factors to demonstrate a campaign ROMI of £101 for every £1 invested - an IPA effectiveness ROMI record.