Summary:
We worked with LEGO Education and the Royal Academy of Engineering to boost the number of talented young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who were considering pursuing careers in engineering. The target was to enrol 25 schools but our campaign secured engagement from 155.
The Brief:
The Elite Engineering Programme (EEP) was launched to business in conjunction with LEGO Education and others and aims to boost the number of talented young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who might be considering pursuing careers in engineering. EEP had to engage the first 25 pilot schools in just one month on a limited budget and asked us to create a PR campaign that cut through the noise and engaged schools.
The Idea:
There are over 700k free teaching resources promoted for use in UK schools today – therefore there was a real challenge for the initiative to be noticed. Through clever use of social media (organic and outreach using a #) and PR, we managed to engage 155 schools. We also approached the BIS press office to obtain a supportive quote from the BIS Secretary of State, achieving coverage in all the top target engineering titles as well as the business, trade and national press, including the Mail on Sunday.
The Impact:
We smashed the target of 25 schools, engaging 155 schools in total. This enabled EEP to deliver a far wider trial than they had expected and helped prove the concept.
“LEGO Education have loved working with Onyx. They helped us surpass our targets for the schools pilot through clever use of social media. We grew to rely on them to give us intelligent strategic communications support that shaped what we did.” Gareth Boldsworth, Sales and Marketing Director at LEGO Education Europe