While legions of people throughout the world rejoice at the first ever opportunity to exercise their right to vote, young Europeans just could not be bothered. Riled by such indifference, the LEAGUE OF YOUNG VOTERS ran an integrated, mainly digital campaign to curb the tide of apathy towards the European Parliament elections among young voters.

Under the auspices of a made-up interest group, the “ALLIANCE FOR RESPONSIBLE DEMOCRACY”, we ran an inflammatory Europe-wide campaign with the sole aim of tearing up the right to vote for those aged 18 to 25. If young people don’t vote, then why waste resources on them?

The ALLIANCE took off, on Twitter, Facebook and other social media, as well as offline. It took off to such an extent that immediately European youth was enraged and ferociously engaged in debate to defend their right to vote at 18.

As arguments reached boiling point, the ALLIANCE lobbed in a final hand grenade: the entire campaign was a giant hoax! It was actually created by the LEAGUE OF YOUNG VOTERS, a dynamic group of young political activists, to make young people aware of the impact of their indifference and to encourage political stakeholders to directly engage this demographic and the issues close to their hearts.

In just weeks, SIX MILLION voters actively engaged with the campaign at the cost of a mere €50,000 – a fraction of most EU funded public campaigns, proving that through great creativity Europe’s youth will engage!

Given our target audience, multi-market scope and unique activation approach, we developed an integrated, mainly digital campaign. It was structured into three phases, running no longer than three months:

Phase I – Shadow Campaign

• Online: Website hosting supporting facts & figures, Facebook page to host creative content & interact with target audience, Twitter account to ensure maximum engagement, & digital advertising – all activities were interlinked.

• Offline: Guerrilla marketing, i.e., posters & stickers in strategic locations across Brussels.

Phase II – Credible Threat

• Fake endorsements, job adverts and petition to be presented to EU institutions, tracking discussions to form rebuttals against youth opponents, outreach to LYV members to spread word of ARD.

Phase III – Unveiling

• Online: Website redesign explaining shadow campaign & importance of reconnecting with EU youth, follow-up with all stakeholders who interacted with campaign, development of campaign video.

• Offline: Media outreach to US- & EU-based journalists, outreach to LYV members.

By the unveiling, the campaign had reached over 6 million Europeans through social media. The total number of Facebook impressions was nearly 4 million, with the target audience generating more than 2 million posts. On Twitter, over 2.5 million users were exposed to content. The campaign successfully reached its target audience, and saw an additional return on investment through strong and positive response from older age groups and key political stakeholders, including European Parliament members, European Commissioners, national-level politicians and other priority stakeholders with whom the LYV had looked to raise its profile.

Our work, however, didn't end with the reveal; we looked to amplify our campaign and its message through traditional channels, sending out press kits and offering interviews with the LYV. The result? Coverage from reputable publications including The Wall Street Journal.

The cost? A mere €50,000 – a fraction of most EU funded public campaigns!