Civil society must catch up with cultural shifts in order to better engage young people through campaigns, the head of a youth charity has said.
Dan Lawes, co-chief executive of the youth democracy charity My Life My Say, said charities seeking to reach young people with their campaigns must market themselves in an engaging way, but also must “meet them where they’re at”.
Speaking on a panel at the agency Shape History’s 10-year anniversary event in London, Lawes pointed to his charity’s ‘Give an X’ campaign, which was co-created with young people and encouraged almost half a million people aged 18 to 24 to register to vote in the UK in the four weeks before the general election last year.
“We could feel the tide was turning – young people were ready for an authentic campaign that spoke to them on a voter registration level.”
He said democracy sectors had “missed a key opportunity” when it came to reaching young people, saying it was very similar to how brands market to young people.
“You’ve got to use branding that engages them, that’s exciting, that catches their attention. And you’ve got to meet them where they’re at,” Lawes said.
He said there were many different players that charities could use to engage with young people.
“You’ve got digital intermediaries such as influencers, who we have to reach out to and use. We can’t ignore them.
“And then you’ve got brands and all the other places that young people use.”
He said that, for example, My Life My Say partnered with Lime bikes, which are heavily used by young people, to display its messaging, as well as the dating app Tinder and the social media platform Snapchat.
“The political messengers have changed now, and civil society definitely has to catch up with that,” Lawes said.
While some people pushed back against the idea of partnering with influencers or using brands during the campaign, Lawes said it paid off, adding: “I think that’s a cultural shift that civil society has really got to acknowledge and move with.”
Lucy Newham, squad ambassador for My Life My Say, said that positioning a campaign across all corners of the internet could improve reach among young people.
She said the ‘Give an X’ campaign’s eye-catching design, combined with its presence across different social platforms, meant that young people “didn’t have to be in one niche” online to see the messaging.
“It was a really smart understanding of young people and how much we’re on our phones.”
Newham also urged charities to avoid focusing their messaging on the future when engaging with young people.
“What a lot of young people are worried about is getting a job, the rights of minorities, trans rights. That’s the stuff that actually speaks to us – what is affecting our everyday lives.
“The future is important but it just doesn’t connect with young people in a way that companies think it does. We need to be talking about how it would affect us right now.”