There are 8,000 metric tons of space debris orbiting the globe. Much of it traveling at speeds of 8 kilometres per second – nearly 10 times that of a bullet. Upon collision, debris decimates spacecraft, which in turns spalls off more debris to join the destructive orbit.

If left unchecked, this debris will render space too dangerous to explore – curtailing humanity’s cosmic ambitions.

Enter Airbus. As a pioneer in space exploration, they have a duty to tackle the issue of space sustainability. They’ve already made great strides, developing futuristic debris-capturing technology such as the Space Harpoon and the Space Net.

Now it was time to take their impact to the next level. That meant recruiting the brightest minds in the galaxy.

Grabbing the attention of STEM talent is easier said than done. Our brief was to cut through the noise, and deliver a message that inspired candidates.

An out-of-this-world recruitment campaign. Crafted to position Airbus as a space leader driving sustainable progress, and to educate people about the role of space in our everyday lives. We called it:

Discover the Cosmos.

To recruit the brightest minds, we needed a campaign that would reach the world beyond LinkedIn and Indeed. So, partnering with Bottletop, we strengthened awareness of Discover the Cosmos with our adjacent consumer campaign.

We created a unique bracelet – made from the cut-off metal of satellites – with proceeds going to organisations championing primary school STEAM education, helping inspire the Space pioneers of tomorrow.

Demonstrating how Airbus is an employer investing in the future for planet and people with tangible, actionable ways to create progress.

Data points gathered through desk research uncovered that if space junk is not cleared from our cosmos, our ability to explore and utilise space for security and infrastructure purposes will soon be gone due to the danger of collision and damage to spacecraft.

Our target audience was prospective talent and the general population, driving awareness of Airbus as a leader in ensuring the safe and sustainable exploration of space for the future. Our personas ranged from experienced professionals in Software and Systems Engineering, to look-a-like follower audiences for influencers in the space industry who were promoting the Space Honeycomb #TOGETHERBANDs.

Our approach was threefold; an influencer-led organic campaign promoting the bands and importance of sustainability in space, a hyper-targeted paid media recruitment campaign to drive applications from prospective talent and an in-person launch at Paris-Le Bourget Airshow to raise awareness of the mission amongst aviation and aerospace experts.

After overcoming sizeable hurdles in the production of the bands themselves, once they were ready for distribution, we had to come up with an approach that would maximise our reach and land the message about the importance of cleaning up the cosmos.

Kicking off the campaign, we partnered with Astronaut Christina Korp, and unveiled the Space Honeycomb band at the Paris-Le Bourget Air Show, the world’s largest event dedicated to the aviation and space industry, with 2,498 Exhibitors, 293,000 visitors and 1,850 journalists. This created a buzz of social activity and online conversation about space, all centred around Airbus and the bands.

This was followed up with three-months of organic influencer activity on Instagram and LinkedIn from 14 prominent STEM figures in the space industry, further backed by paid media directing audiences to the Discover the Cosmos landing page to uncover more about Airbus’ mission to make space more sustainable.

The bands sold out in six weeks with all proceeds going to STEAM organisations supporting the next generation of space pioneers; stars of tomorrow who can make a cosmic difference.

The campaign messaging was shared by 14 ‘Airbassadors’ on social, reaching over 8,480,000 people.

Launch saw a 42% spike in job applications, and since Airbus has seen a sustained 30% increase in applications, filling the hiring need for the next two years.

Campaign assets generated over 1.2mn impressions, 52,225 video views at 50% or longer and 3,422 engagements.

Client quote:

Mark Crompton, Global Head of Employment Marketing & Employer Branding

"The campaign's impact has been remarkable, igniting a spark of curiosity in countless young minds across the U.K. The engagement we've witnessed is the driving force behind inspiring the next generation of space engineers. Together, we believe we’re sowing the seeds of a brighter future for space exploration and innovation."