Agency: Havas London
Client: Department for Education
Campaign Name: Every lesson shapes a life
Campaign Overview
There was a downward trend in teacher recruitment that resulted in a storm of media negativity.
This wasn't just a recruitment problem, it was a reputation problem. Reversal required a radical new strategy to attract more people to teaching.
Strategy
Teaching needed its status and respect back.
The campaign repositioned teachers as “life shapers” to move away from financial incentives and rebuild the profession’s brand.
Insight came from talking to anyone who had been taught: they all remembered the one teacher who impacted their life.
Their stories helped Havas London realise teaching doesn't just influence what you become; it inspires who you become.
The purpose of teaching was elevated from “inspiring children” to “life changing”.
The profession still needed a clear and confident identity. This was done with the rallying cry of a new TV execution to launch the new positioning.
The final task was to persuade people to apply.
A tailored comms framework delivered the right message in the right media to the right people, using emotive messaging to motivate through broadcast, and rational messaging through direct channels.
Creativity
Every Lesson Shapes a Life: a new creative idea elevating the status of teaching.
It was supported by a rebrand of teaching, a new TV ad celebrating each teacher who shaped a girl’s life, and a new comms journey across all touchpoints to drive applications.
Moving from focusing on the teacher to the pupil was a radical departure for the DfE.
The creative used a dynamic and distinctive visual identity inspired by classroom semiotics to reframe the profession as a modern and confident career choice.
Previous campaigns had failed to capture the joy of teaching or the importance of the profession.
They had also been broadly criticised by teachers for “Disneyfying” teaching. The new creative built a consistent voice.
Tailored messaging drew prospects from registration to application, supported by Get into Teaching.
Content launched across press, CRM, digital, social, radio and out of home, with a single call to action to drive emotion and response.
Results
The campaign has tracked 8.5% ahead of year-to-date target for registrations: over 12,000 potential new teachers.
This feat was achieved by deploying long-term inspiration over short-term incentives.
Brand and ad trackers show positive signs that the campaign has the potential to give back teaching status and respect:
- 80% of prospects now agree that the campaign “made me appreciate the importance of teachers”
- pride in teaching is at the highest-ever recorded level for students
- monthly Omnibus shows a 4% rise in likelihood to recommend teaching as a profession; 222,480 new potential teaching advocates
The campaign has prompted higher levels of conversion in social. The CPA of social posts has nearly halved and is now 65% lower than Facebook benchmarks.
Web registrations through social on the same spend nearly doubled, the DfE’s best-ever social performance.
Teachers reacted overwhelmingly positively to the tone of the campaign, saying it reminded them of why they love their job.
Team
Xavier Rees, CEO, Havas London - Ben Mooge, ECD, Havas London - Jennifer Black, Managing Partner, Havas London - Matthew Paris, Account Director, Havas London - Claire Petzal, Account Director, Havas London - Sophie Fletcher, Account Manager, Havas London - Emily Allen, Account Manager, Havas London, Rebecca Moody, Head of Strategy, Havas London - Clare Hutchinson, Head of Strategy, Havas London - Ravi Matharu, Strategic Director, Havas London - Emma Stafford, Strategist, Havas London - Lorenzo Fruzza, Head of Design, Havas London - Nik House, Brand Guardian, Havas London - Miles Niblett, Design, Havas London - Sarah Barclay, Content Team, Havas London - Patrick Cahill, Content Team, Havas London - Lynsey Atkin, Creative Director, Havas London - Lynsey Atkin, Copywriter, Havas London - Wil Maxey, Creative, Havas London - Elliott White, Creative, Havas London - Patrick Cahill, Joint Head of Integrated Production, Havas London - Adam Henderson, Agency Producer, Havas London - Natasha King, Assistant Agency Producer, Havas London - Lucy Kelly, Executive Producer, Pulse Films - George Saunders, Producer, Pulse Films - thirtytwo, Director, Pulse Films - Ben Fordesman, DoP, Pulse Films - Ellie Johnson, Editor, TenThree - Billy Mead, Editor, TenThree - Simone Grattarola, Colourist, Time Based Arts - Jamie Crofts, Flame Artist, Time Based Arts - Josh Robinson, Post-producer, Time Based Arts - Jo Gutteridge, Post-producer, Time Based Arts - Anthony Moore, Sound Factory - Jack Hallett, Sound - Zebedee Budworth, Composer - Mark Stobbart, VO - Alana McLernon, Audio, Producer Factory - Lucy Spong, Audio, Producer Factory
Contributors
Pulse, Time Based Arts, Sound Factory, TenThree
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