Why is this work relevant for PR?

The Generation Intervention was an integrated campaign led by its PR strategy. The goal was to stoke a wider conversation and earned media played a crucial role in its success. While all assets set the humorous, irreverent tone needed to penetrate the millennial market, the interviews we secured with our spokesperson and leading sexologist, Jacqueline Hellyer, were almost solely responsible for delivering key outcomes: - Driving reach, particularly with parents of millennials - Propagating and articulating the serious issue plaguing young Australians - Explaining how parents could open dialogue that would help their adult children, with the Four Seasons’ assistance

Background

Australia is in the midst of a sex recession. Young Australians are having 50% less sex than previous generations. Societal pressures, tech use and mental health issues are up, and libidos are down. Not great news for the Four Seasons condom brand. To curb the threat to their sales, we were tasked with finding an authentic way to engage a notoriously unengaged target market and encourage them to get back in the sack. The objective was to educate the public on the topical problem young adults are facing and raise brand awareness by helping to reverse the problem.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

So, how did we get 18-24-year-olds back in the sack? Through their parents. We encouraged parents to have a more progressive chat with their children - ‘The Talk 2.0’. A check-in to discuss the importance of a healthy, happy sex life for a healthy, happy mind. Arming them with the fun and educational packs we developed in collaboration with Australia’s leading sexologist, we sparked genuine dialogue between generations. To kickstart interventions everywhere, we engaged the parents of influencers, and had them infiltrate their adult children’s social channels, surprising their kids with ‘The Talk 2.0’ while they streamed. Street posters, social posts and an advice hotline operated by real parents directed parents to get their free Generation Intervention Pack online. By normalising a taboo topic and facilitating a meaningful dialogue between generations, we turned awkward conversations into a national conversation for the benefit of young people’s physical, mental and sexual health.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

ABC’s Australia Talks 2019 survey found that 18- to 24-year-old Australians were having about 50% less sex than older generations. Soaring use of social media, video games and online porn especially are contributing to loneliness, anxiety, and depression, with the survey finding a quarter of young Australians face mental health challenges. With lower libido linked to mental health issues, many, including sexologist Jacqueline Hellyer, claim these issues are causing the millennial sex recession. Paradoxically, sex increases feelings of closeness, intimacy, confidence and excitement. This is where Four Seasons steps in. We needed something bold and memorable to get Australia talking and young people listening. Targeting millennial news outlets or finding a millennial angle wouldn’t secure us extensive, national, tier-one news coverage. However, targeting their parents meant we could target major news outlets. Here we encouraged parents to order a free Generation Intervention pack and bring the conversation to their children.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

All comms were developed with sexologist and spokesperson, Jacqueline Hellyer, to ensure the advice was factual and appropriate. On the day of launch, we secured 158 media clips in major metro news titles across print, online, radio and TV outlets. A major metro print exclusive led, going to print in every News Corp state metro masthead that morning. TV interviews with Jacqueline, recorded the day prior, went live later that day or in the following weeks. We then pitched to all consumer news outlets who were not offered an interview, which saw morning radio news bulletins and TV programmes cover the story. In the weeks that followed, we continued to pitch the news to long-format outlets, a wellness podcast and a national health magazine. To supplement this activity, we engaged parents of influencers to conduct interventions to be uploaded on the influencers’ social channels, adding humour and a millennial-focused element.

List the results (30% of vote)

MASS AWARENESS The campaign achieved 195 media coverage clips generating 58.2M impressions and 100% positive sentiment. SOLD OUT Within three days of posting, the influencer videos had over 100,000 impressions, Four Seasons had sold out of 400 Generation Intervention packs, and Generation Interventions were happening all over social media. DOUBLE DIGIT GROWTH In the month the campaign launched, there was an encouraging 14% increase in sales on the year average and an increase in their market share of 7%. At the time of writing, Four Seasons had maintained this sales growth four months after the launch.