by Emma Littler, LGcomms Future Leader, St Helens Borough Council
Anyone who knows me will tell you I quite often resemble a kids’ tv presenter, dressed head to toe in colour and sporting some rather unusual bags and shoes. I can recall at least 20 occasions where someone has said, “Oh, my five year old would like that”, so when I walked into Manchester Town Hall a couple of weeks ago for the latest Future Leader’s session and was greeted by an array of stickers, fidget toys and even Play-Doh, you can imagine how much I was in my element. I didn’t know what to expect but I knew it was going to be good and boy was it, albeit very, very busy. One thing’s for sure, I certainly didn’t expect to leave with my very own space hopper!
We started the day with a branding masterclass from Manchester City Council’s MFour showing us how we can have fun and push the boundaries while still getting those all-important key messages across. The key takeaway for me was that not everything has to be in the corporate colour palette we’ve all found restrictive from time to time, nor does the local authority’s logo have to be front and centre. The important thing is that our residents understand what we’re telling them, not who is telling them.
Next came a whistle stop tour into the Dos and Don’ts of election comms from the Association of Electoral Administrators, which reassured me we’re doing things right (phew!) and sparked some last-minute ideas to implement ahead of the General Election.
The highlight of the day though was, without a shadow of a doubt, the session on unlocking the youth vote, led by Antonia Dixey’s Participation People and youth consultants Niamh and Maddie. We all learned a lot that afternoon and not just that young people speak an even more different language than we thought. After discussing the challenges public sector organisations have in reaching our younger demographics, and a quiz on all things Gen Z, in which I somehow managed to claim the coveted first prize of a space hopper (get the ambulance ready, please), we moved on to the team challenge element of the afternoon.
Split into two teams, we were asked to come up with a campaign to increase voter registration and turn-out in the 18-25 age group and pitch our ideas to a panel. Armed with our own youth consultant, we explored what channels we’d use for our campaign, focusing on the likes of TikTok and Instagram, where dark humour and memes rule supreme. Both teams came up with some really interesting concepts, so much so that the two campaigns will now be combined and used in future by LGcomms.
One of the key things I took away from the day is the importance of including young people in our planning, rather than assuming we know all the answers. We might be communications experts but it’s ok to ask for help. It’s also ok to try something new and push the boundaries every now and again. With 73% of Gen Z saying memes help them express things they would normally struggle to communicate, if you’re not already using memes, now is the time to start!
And remember – you’re only as old as you feel, right?