Deviate creates Flexible New Deal work for A4e
Deviate has completed a national campaign for national welfare to work specialists A4e.
Deviate’s twin-track campaign, with separate activity targeting employers and jobseekers, centred on a jobseeker information roadshow which attracted almost 20,000 visitors during a tour of major parts of the North East, Yorkshire, The Midlands, East Anglia and central London.
A4e’s jobseeker strand was built around the theme of “Know Hope” – aimed at countering the kind of despondency that afflicted many communities hit by earlier decline of traditional industries.
“We were looking for a campaign which put information at the forefront but also created a sense of positive anticipation and enabled our staff to answer questions about Flexible New Deal face to face,” said A4e Marketing Manager Darren Booth.
“Deviate’s campaign has had massive reach enabling us to connect at grass roots level as well as through online communities and traditional news media.”
An pink VW Campervan acted as both a mobile billboard and focal point in each of the 21 towns and cities visited during the campaign while Deviate’s events team created opportunities for local A4e staff to answer face-to-face questions from local people by giving away branded T-shirts and wristbands promoting A4e’s dedicated Flexible New Deal website www.a4eworks.co.uk.
In addition, 3D pavement drawings of local industry icons, including tourism emblem Big Ben in London and a giant mustard jar in Norwich (home of Colman’s Mustard), were used to create an additional interaction point and a media photocall opportunity.
Deviate’s campaign made heavy use of social media as well as traditional news channels. Each information event was pre-promoted through Twitter as well as local radio, newspaper and online news slots while the 3D pavement art was captured on daily YouTube and Flickr uploads which linked back to the A4e website.
Daily blog reports encouraging visitors to track the tour’s progress helped generate almost 7,500 website visits in the first three weeks with a further 1,500 people visiting A4e’s online Flikr photo-gallery. A4e’s dedicated site for employers www.fnd4you.co.uk, also created by Deviate, was promoted by direct mail and online and print business media coverage.