At the Give an X campaign launch last week there was a much needed sigh of relief, the type that’s coupled with a celebratory tipple. Getting young people registered to vote is no easy task, but it’s an important one – whether that’s for the upcoming local elections, or the looming general election.
For those acquainted with the campaign, it will come as no surprise that Give an X’s messaging has been a hit. Featuring bold graphics and partnerships with the likes of Ben and Jerry’s and Lime bikes, each spot has Gen Z style running through its veins.
While the figure can’t be attributed to the campaign alone, there can be little doubt that it has contributed towards the has record number of under-25s signing up to the electoral register – 100,000 in just seven days, at the last count.
Spearheaded by specially selected youth steering groups, purpose-driven agency Shape History, My Life My Say and the #iWill movement if there’s one thing Give an X’s success proves, it’s that if you want people to do anything, you’ve got to meet them where they’re at.
From gentle nudge tactics, to tapping in to the zeitgeist and the simple act of listening, we find out why the campaign has had such an impact.
Give an X? Then bug them everywhere, and bug them again!
Speaking at the launch, which fittingly took place in the Olympic Park (symbolic of a time many associate with collective optimism), Shape History associate creative director Zoë Dawson explains that it was crucial to get the balance between digital and outernet right.
“There are so many cool outernet, real world things going on with the campaign, but obviously a big part of it has to be digital. Everyone spends so much time on social, so it’s really important for us to have that side of it as well.”
She explains that leveraging social in this way has also helped make the campaign more trackable. “It allows us to target people, retarget people so they register to vote, then bug them again so they actually turn up to the polling station.”
Shape History also used social media to target people based on their age, demographic and location. The testing phase went really well, Dawson says, as it allowed the agency to look at different locations and target the areas with the lowest voter turnout.
Housing campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa, whose tireless campaigning has focused on the dire living conditions found in housing associations, says he supports the Give an X campaign because young people deserve to have a say, “especially when the issues effect [them] as much as anyone else in the room”.
Crucially, however, he’s hoping the momentum generated by the campaign can continue in the run up to the general election, adding that “some young people just need a nudge!”
Give an X is proud to be supported by dedicated partners & ambassadors who are all helping us on our mission to get every single young person voting 🗳️
Though he probably needs no introduction, meet Kwajo Tweneboa – social activist, campaigner and #GiveAnX ambassador ✖️ pic.twitter.com/yozlAfvJCw
— Give An X (@mylifemysay) April 25, 2024
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Hit the zeitgeist: What do young people give an X about?
But there is no use nudging if the tone isn’t right – after all, that’s how many campaigns in the past have missed the mark or crossed that fine line into being annoying.
The key, as Give an X demonstrates, is in tapping into what young people are really interested in – housing, mental health, job opportunities and the environment.
To set the tone of the campaign, Dawson held meetings with the steering group every couple of weeks, asking them “loads of questions” around what they wanted to see on a bus or what brands they would like the campaign to collaborate with?
“The only way we got that insight is through just asking. It shouldn’t be a big thing to ask young people what they think and do and want, but so many campaigns in this space just talk at people and make massive assumptions.”
One of the particularly appealing methods of ‘nudging’ people to vote is offering free rides to people heading to the polling station, as Lime have done in the US. Lime campaign manager Jack McKenna says this is something they’re hoping to roll out as part of the Give an X campaign, when it eventually extends into the general election.
Lime bikes hit the scene in the UK just over five years ago, and crucially appeal to young people in towns and cities who might not be able to drive, can’t afford to drive, or are environmentally conscious.
Did you know that one third of 18-24 year olds in the UK are not registered to vote?! This is something we want to change…@Lime and @MyLifeMySay have partnered up for the Give An X campaign, and rolled out some fresh bike wraps onto the streets of London with a clear… pic.twitter.com/BHUfffkj2U
— Lime (@limebike) April 12, 2024
Give an X has also featured celebrities from big names like Michael Sheen, to cult classic YouTubers like Chicken Shop Date host Amelia Dimoldenberg. These appearances sit alongside a wider campaign from My Life My Say and Ogilvy which taps into the fact that 68% of young people are more likely to vote in reality TV shows than in elections.
Because the campaign is officially non-partisan, the team were also able to get Fulham football club on board, offering another way of sliding into the conversation surrounding something else people definitely give an X about.
Get the look right: ‘Politics isn’t about them, it’s about you’
Among the raft of assets produced for the campaign, Dawson revealed that the asset which performed the strongest was an image of a politician’s face scribbled out with the phrase: “Politics isn’t about them, it’s about you”.
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It is easy to call young people lazy, blame them for spending too much time on social media, or post about the “snowflake generation” being too entitled to vote in the comments section of your favourite online news site.
But that is itself a lazy excuse. Political campaigns are never going to reach people in the tired language of most official comms. Do any of us log onto gov.uk because it’s riveting, or because we have to do our taxes?
The best thing about Give an X is that it doesn’t fit the mould of most government communications. It isn’t speaking to the often out-of-touch people sitting in cabinet meetings and making poorly-thought-out decisions. It’s speaking to the people they are supposed to represent, the people who are calling for change – the people who really do Give an X.
As Dawson puts it: “It would be really weird for the Prime Minister to post one of these assets.That’s why this is so cool. It looks more Nike than number 10”.
