The Duke of Ed and Paper Moose Invite Teens to “Be Your Own Champion”

Fueled by the insight that 77% of young people from Year 5 to 12 want to be their own boss one day, Paper Moose developed their new brand platform, “Be Your Own Champion”, empowering teens to explore new activities and turn their interests into achievements with the Duke of Ed. 

The Duke of Ed has big ambitions to triple their registered and paid participants by 2025. Their first worldwide advertising campaign features a cast of teenagers and showcases how everyday activities can be translated into the Duke of Ed experience. The user-generated content style is designed to fit seamlessly into social feeds. 

Says Jeremy Willmott, creative director, Paper Moose, "The Duke of Ed is an incredible way for teens to build the skills they'll need to succeed later on in life, so we created a platform that inspires them to give it a go” 

We spoke to Jeremy about communicating such a complex, multifaceted message to a young demographic, and how the Paper Moose team rose to the challenge.

LBB> You're communicating to a very young demographic here, one agencies can sometimes agonise about reaching. What was your primary strategy to make sure you spoke to them?

Jeremy> We focused on making sure that we presented the Duke of Ed as being achievable to all types of kids. The legacy perception is that it’s a certain type of kid who succeeds at it - one who’s very outdoorsy, very sporty, etc. So we decided to showcase all the stuff kids are already doing. 

Our research (and the research of the Duke of Ed themselves) shows that a lot of Gen Z are really focused on finding a purpose in life, on figuring out these broad goals; on making a difference in the world. We tried to make that same spirit seem achievable on a local level, which is what the Duke of Ed offers. It teaches all sorts of skills you don’t learn through standard education. We wanted kids to feel that, to have it resonate with them.

LBB> To that end, can you tell me about the visual language of the ad? 

Jeremy> Well, we made the 30 second spot, but we also had several 15 and six second supplements, and we knew that a good deal of the engagement across social media would come through those. So our task was to try and get as much material into those short videos as clearly as possible. The simple vignette format was a great way to do that.

Furthermore, we tried to shoot from something like a first person POV. all this was with the goal of keeping it authentic; having the videos appear and appeal like content Gen Z would be seeing across social media every day. Every decision was made with the intent of having them see something of themselves in the material.

LBB> This is Paper Moose's first outing as a truly full-service integrated agency - how does that change the process?

Jeremy> The simple fact of having everybody plugged in at all stages changes the knowledge and understanding you’ve got access to. We knew all the context at every juncture. We know how our audience is consuming media, and we know what matters to them. So we can tailor the work really specifically to work for that demographic.

Says Peter Kaye, CEO AM ESM, The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award - Australia: “We want to show young Australians everywhere that the Award showcases an incredibly diverse set of experiences, with everyone welcome. Paper Moose delivered dynamic content that felt authentic to how 14–17 year olds experience the world today”.

This campaign marks the debut of Paper Moose's enhanced capabilities in media planning, implementation, and optimisation, available as part of its comprehensive full-service offering. 

The campaign is live online across Digital and Social.