THE CHALLENGE

• To transform perceptions of engineering among 13 to 18 year olds in the UK and inspire them to consider a career in engineering.
  
  

• The UK faces a pressing engineering skills and diversity crisis that genuinely threatens social and economic growth.
  
  

• The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) needs to attract innovators and entrepreneurs often lost to engineering well before they finish school. They wanted a campaign that would inspire young people to see engineering in a new light and demonstrate it as a strong vocational alternative no matter what your interests are.

   

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

• Engineering is an essential part of our day to day lives, shapes our future, and provides varied, fulfilling and well-paid careers in a very wide range of industries.
  
  

• We need to close the diversity gap in the pipeline, to make engineering truly accessible for all.
  
  

• Demand continues to outstrip supply, and the sector needs a new generation of keen young minds.

THE GOAL

• The ultimate aim is to address the engineering skills and diversity crisis.
  
  

• Barriers to uptake need to be challenged, reducing ‘drop-off’ as part of a wider programme of work in the education funnel.
  
  

• Young people from all backgrounds should be encouraged to take up STEM subjects and engineering courses (both academic and vocational) so that we have the talent we need in the UK to solve some of society’s most pressing challenges, and to drive vital economic growth.

THE RESPONSE (2017 - present)

We created the #ThisIsEngineering campaign for the Royal Academy of Engineering, in collaboration with EngineeringUK and industry partners (eg. BT, BAE, Rolls-Royce, BP, Aston Martin and many more).

The campaign is a high profile, digitally-led advertising campaign, which sets out to combat perceptions and looks to inspire the next generation of engineers, by showing them the astounding breadth of areas engineers work in.

As engineering is ubiquitous, any passion can take you naturally into the world of engineering, from catwalk fashion, to sport, to movies and gaming. After all, if you love what you do – work doesn’t feel like work. By delving into the lives of inspirational young engineers who have followed their passion from childhood, we were able to hear first-hand how they found themselves in roles that have impressive social impact and kudos. Our short films encapsulate the importance of following what you are naturally good at into any number of roles in fields of engineering that you might least expect.

CONNECTING THROUGH STORIES

Film is at the heart of our social media strategy, inspiring students about what a career in engineering could look like. The campaign to date centres around the life stories of sixteen real, young engineers who have turned their passions into careers, following what they love into sport, fashion, robotics, design, space and much more.

Each of our protagonists feature in their own 40” film alongside 90” over-arching campaign films with 30” and 10” cut-downs rolled-out across YouTube, Loop.me, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. A central hub provides further information on careers in engineering for students, teachers and parents, and deep-dive interviews with each of our engineers.

CAMPAIGN EVOLUTION

As we have met more and more engineers, key observations have begun to underpin our understanding of what makes them tick as human beings, and and why they chose engineering as a career. These insights are strong and distinct enough to justify incorporating into our future comms, building with each season.

Explore each section below to see how this digital-first campaign evolved over time.

RESULTS

So far, the campaign has greatly exceeded expectations With over 21m views, from a gender balanced audience of students, and 670k online engagements, the campaign has cut through the noise and captured the attention of our target audience.

Research indicates a more significant impact too. Before launch, 39% of students said they would consider a career in engineering. After two seasons, that number increased to 72% among students who have seen the campaign, and grew further to 80% in season three. We’re also reaching the under-represented: increase in consideration was higher among female students and those from BAME backgrounds.

• 1 in 5 students recall seeing the campaign, and 3 in 5 students did something as a result of seeing the campaign
  
  
• Consideration of engineering has doubled as a result of seeing the films, with more than 70% taking a follow-up action
  
  
• Content has been shown at events attended by more than 125,000 people; it has been talked about on BBC News, Sky News, Woman’s Hour, and in The Mirror; it has appeared in ad breaks between premier league football matches on BT Sport
  
  
• Openness to engineering continues to increase amongst 11 – 16 year olds as the campaign continues to evolve.

“Choosing a career is a big decision and young people are often reliant on advice from parents and teachers. But some parents and teachers have out-of-date or negative stereotypes about working in engineering. They don’t know that you can follow your passion into engineering, whether you love music, fashion, sports, film, games – whatever it is, there are engineers at the heart of it. The campaign seeks to rebrand engineering for young people and encourage them to take up careers in engineering”.

Daniel Rossall Valentine, Head of Engineering Talent Project

21m

Views... and counting

670k

Direct online engagements

72%

Audience consideration