2016 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

The challenge: Youth unemployment is a grave concern across the Arab region; 25% of those aged 18 – 24 are currently unemployed (U.N International Labour Organization) - making it a major economic and political issue as youth are looking to governments for solutions in the form of jobs, financial support and education. The brief: Develop a campaign that actively encouraged youth to look beyond the public sector and pursue jobs in the private sector to decrease the cost burden on governments. The response? Bring together the private sector - Aramex, Boeing, Marriott International, MBC and Wamda to educate and provide real-world opportunities for youth. How? Through the creation of compelling video content in the form of free prime-time educational Public Service Announcements aired on MBC, an interactive web-portal packed with information and real-world internship opportunities. The result? 11,500+ internship applications in first 3 weeks 90% of which were eligible Marriott International + Aramex opened 55 internship applications to accommodate requests; MBC 20, Wamda 15 and Boeing 10 in the USA 50,000+ visitors to the microsite in 3 months 40% of the total # of visitors are returning visitors MBC joined as a key campaign partner under the MBC Hope CSR efforts 370+ Public Service Announce spots aired during prime time across MBC channels over a period of four weeks The establishment of a legacy platform for further youth engagement in 2016 and beyond.

The Brief

Obtain private sector backing for the campaign + funding: For the private sector to buy in to the campaign, a clear understanding of the issues was required. We had to show that young people were a) not aware of job opportunities in growth industries and b) that their perceptions towards those industries were rooted in negativity Engage young people in private sector job opportunities: To engage youth, we needed a deep understanding of their perceptions towards growth industries. And even if we equipped them with such information, would they care or apply for a role?

Execution

Part 1 Research which sectors in MENA region are growing and offer job opportunities Test young people’s attitudes towards growth sectors i.e. were they positive or negative? Did they understand the depth and breadth of jobs available in that sector or industry? This information enabled us to target the selected industry partners AND guided how we approached youth Part 2 Attract private sector partners; act as ambassadors and champion job opportunities to dispel misconceptions of youth Attract media partner; with wide-spread coverage of the MENA region and strong viewership figures to broadcast the education message Part 3 Develop micro-site; enable young people to a) learn about private sector opportunities b) apply for internships Part 4 Public Service Announcement; production of 1 to 2 minute education videos for each industry partner Part 5 Official campaign launch; press conference with partners, traditional and digital media outreach, public service announcements go-live, micro-site launched

Internship 11,500+ internship applications 90% eligible 68% age range 16-25 78% university graduates Micro-site 50,000 visitors in three months 290,000 page views 6:30 Avg. Session Duration 40% returning visitors to site Public Service Announcements MBC joined as a key campaign partner under the MBC Hope CSR efforts 370+ PSA spots aired across MBC channels over a period of four weeks PSAs aired during prime time Social Media 50+ Facebook posts reached more than 52k people 100+ tweets, with a total of 1600+ re-tweets and 2.8M reach Media Over 100 articles across the region Strong message penetration: “Private Sector needs to do more to engage Arab youth” Campaign longevity INJAZ Al-Arab has made ‘Expand Your Horizon’ an anchor program for 2016

The Strategy

‘Expand Your Horizon’ - a vision to bring the private sector together to tackle Arab youth unemployment was based on a public call to action. Relevance: engage the right partners to care about the problem - Arab youth unemployment Comprehension: create a simple way for partners to understand the problem – Research Bayt.com and YouGov conducted an in-depth study of young people’s attitudes towards private sector employment. Spanning 19 countries across the MENA region and 5,400+ students aged 16 – 24. Credibility: engage the right partners to believe in the solution by offering real-world experience through internships and participation in the educational videos Urgency; engage partners to act by providing youth with opportunities and internships; call on Arab youth to engage with the private sector through Expand Your Horizon platform + content