Breaking GROUND

Looking to tackle a chronic shortage of quality building apprentices, the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) leapt in, boots and all, to a multistage, cross-platform campaign that managed to win hearts and minds, not just of

The challenge

n 2016, New Zealand’s building industry was in crisis. With a boom in construction, but a chronic shortage of construction apprentices, BCITO found itself flying in tradies from across the globe to meet the demand, a stop gap measure at best.

Compounding this, feedback from the industry was that candidates

Icoming through weren’t of a high enough standard.

So, BCITO needed a way to hook potential apprentices, particularly school leavers, because New Zealand needed apprentices who were educated, up to the job and driven to succeed.

The response

Research with partner agencies hit upon the idea of a month- long campaign employing digital, social, traditional and earned media channels, something which represented a major gear shift for the conservative, not- for- profit, and government appointed body.

Gear shift or not, BCITO threw itself and its entire marketing budget behind the ‘ Not Your Average… Shed’ campaign.

It was a challenge whereby a team of apprentices were assembled and given the mission of very publically building a “multifunctional, hi- tech entertainment pod”. The high- traffic Sylvia Park shopping centre was selected as the location. “What a challenge!,” says BCITO. “BCITO is a traditionally conservative organisation, so this was a big step out of our comfort zone – it just had to work.”

Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Snapchat were all utilised as channels for the generated content, directly targeting the youth market as well as their parents who are key influencers on their offspring’s career choices.

Radio, digital, social and print served to amplify the message via promotions utilising media brands and personalities.

The results

The leap of faith paid off, with BCITO dramatically exceeding its expectations and targets, almost tripling its quality registrations year- on- year, doubling conversions and slashing its cost per registration.

The activation captured attention with over 3000 people visiting and engaging at the Sylvia Park site over the course of a month. On- site surveyed sentiment was recorded at 99 percent positive.

Facebook reach and engagement was exceptional with 330 ‘ hot’ leads and 110 ‘cold’ leads generated and a strong conversion rate of 3.1 percent. The campaign drove PR interest producing 27 print articles, 12 online articles, six broadcast pieces including TVNZ Breakfast and TV3’S Story, with a total earned media reach of 4,991,019 people across New Zealand.

Registrations nearly tripled year- onyear, with 2016 doubling the conversion rate of 2015 and cost per registration dropping 30 percent.

“We learned that when you get a bunch of passionate people together and invest in a shared vision, anything is possible,” says BCITO.