Opening doors for young people

THE PROJECT

In early 2023, we began our partnership with the then Star Wars-inspired ‘Padawans’. They required a brand capable of effectively communicating with a diverse range of audiences – propelling them towards future growth and adoption.

The challenges they are addressing in terms of social mobility are remarkably evident. For example, only one in three, 16-18 year olds currently get any work experience, and people are still 60% more likely to be in a professional job if they are from a privileged background. So getting more young people involved with work experience seems like a no brainer, but there’s still a few hurdles to overcome.

For employers – providing work experience can be a painful process. It’s long winded and takes time away from productivity. For students, it’s seen as a duty, and is rarely aligned with their interests and values.

If done well, a business would actually be able to  establish a pipeline for hiring – full of diverse young new talent! And students will be inspired and energised for their careers.

How could they make an impact on this seemingly (not) impossible task? By making work  experience accessible. How do they communicate this to businesses, students and educators?

That’s where we come in…

THE OUTCOME

Through a detailed brand strategy process we established and clarified the underpinning of the business. Identifying their mission, purpose, values, brand archetypes and even their new business name – Not Impossible.

We also worked with them to gain clarity on their market positioning. Other businesses are operating in this space, but by defining their difference, we understood how to communicate clearly and confidently – “Our platform is built to guide employers through the work experience process, making it easy to turn placements into real hires.”

By knowing and understanding these core components, it helped us express the brand personality and communicate with clarity and confidence, enabling us to make justified recommendations for the brand identity and marketing materials.

We took all of these learnings and started to define a visual direction for the brand. A statement which really stood out to us was “Opening doors for opportunity”. By leaning into this we  formed the foundations of the logomark. This angular device went on to provide graphic language which was used to house imagery and copy across the brand.

We also supported them with their language and tone of voice, they had a lot to say, and being concise with their messaging ensured what they said stood out.

Armed with these components we equipped the team with pitch collateral and a web platform to take this new Work Experience concept to the world! (or, the just the south west, as identified in the pilot).

Almost a year on, and with some incredible businesses on-board including Bristol City Leap, Bristol and Bath Regional Capital, Ecologi, Hydrock, City to Sea, Business West, LettUs Grow, Bristol Women’s Voice, Sawdays, Invivo Healthcare, When in Rome, Matter, AG Comms, The Reef World Foundation and The Labour Party!