Title	GENERATION DISCOVER FESTIVAL
Brand	SHELL
Product/Service	SOCIAL INVESTMENT
Category	B04. Business Citizenship / Corporate Responsibility & Environmental
Entrant	SHELL Den Haag, THE NETHERLANDS
Idea Creation	BRANDBASE Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
PR	EDELMAN Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Production	BRANDBASE Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS

Name	Company	Position
Anne Schreuder	Shell	Project Director
Claire Rutteman	Shell	Project Manager
Delphine Tilman	BrandBase	Project Manager
Jesse Post	BrandBase	Creative Director
Edwin Kool	BrandBase	Creative
Edwin Servaas	BrandBase	Designer
Anne Oosterveen	Edelman	PR Director

Why is this work relevant for PR?

Our world is facing a serious challenge. Two billion more people and a double demand for energy, water and food. Shell plays a key role in the global energy market. New talent like engineers, scientists and inventors are crucial. In the Netherlands, a knowledge-based economy, demand exceeds supply. Studies show a vast shortage of engineers and scientists in this country. School students tend to have negative views on the subjects. Time to change their perception. The fact that we came up with an 'event' as one of the solutions to tackle the shortage was a very bold and surprising move.

Background

In the Netherlands, there is a vast shortage of scientific/technically skilled people. Students foster negative views on the subjects. How can we turn this around and let children develop a real interest in science and technology? How can we let children develop a real interest in science & technology? Last year, we created the 3rd edition of the festival: Clear KPIs for this year's edition: - Deliver an event with at least 20,000 visitors - A minimal visitor rating of 7.5/10 - Encourage youngsters to consider 'future paths’ in science - Convince & encourage teachers to give more science lessons - Turn the festival into a partner-supported initiative - Show visitors, press and bystanders that science & technology are essential societal progress - Put Shell in a leading role in promoting STEM education (science, technology, engineering, mathematics)

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Generation Discover Festival. 35,000 visitors. Five days. One action-packed festival of science and technology to inspire the next generation. A place where youngsters explored the opportunities & excitement science & technology brings. Full of experiences and hands-on workshops such as; building future cities, solving cyber crime mysteries and racing a DIY-built salt water cars. Learning by doing. A place that trigger curiosity and encourages kids to go explore. A rewarding way of truly sparking the interest of the next generation. Shell is a company that has science & technology at its core. The fact that we came up with an event as a solution to tackle the vast shortage of technically skilled people in the Netherlands was surprising. We managed to amaze youngsters and give them many good reasons why to fall in love with science, innovation and technology. We encouraged teachers to spend more time on the subject.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

Insight Our world is facing a serious challenge. Two billion more people and a double demand for energy, water and food. Shell plays a key role in the global energy market. New talent like engineers, scientists and inventors are crucial. But in the Netherlands, a knowledge-based economy, demand exceeds supply. Students foster negative views on the subjects. How can we let children develop a real interest in science and technology? Key message Generation Discover Festival. A five day, action-packed festival to celebrate science & technology to inspire the next generation. A place where youngsters explored the opportunities and excitement science & technology offer. Target audiences Primary school kids at the age of 8-12 School teachers, to spend more time on the subjects Assets The festival puts Shell in a leading role in promoting STEM education in the Netherlands and be seen as the driver/initiator to tackle the shortage.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

School children, teachers, parents were invited to experience the festival. Stakeholders (internal & external), partners and press were invited to attend the festival too. The festival is used as a stage or backdrop that gives the opportunity to the CEO, the country chair in the Netherlands, and other high-ranking staff and board members to host interviews with press about the initiative Shell takes. This way they can talk about the challenges and the serious issues our industry or country faces. It is also a way of creating support among governments and industries in a very low-threshold and accessible way. Press that were present: national television (with prime time coverage), national newspapers, online news channels, local television local newspapers.

List the results (30% of vote)

Media outputs * 308 media publications * 97 traditional publications * 211 online publications * 3 TV items - traditional * 3 radio items - traditional * 91 print publications - traditional * 4 video blogs - online * 98% neutral to positive tonality * 116.728.225 total reach (impressions) offline and online * 14.361.296 traditional reach Target audience outcomes * 35,000 visitors in 5 days * 8.8/10 rating by visitors * An increase of 36% of the kids now aspiring a technical or scientific career * 84% of the teachers that are willing to teach more science subjects in class * 25 industry partners Business outcomes * The shell brand appreciation number went up from 6.3 to a stunning 7.5 after the festival. We wanted to do something special to truly spark the interest of the next generation to consider a career path in one of these fields. That is how we have placed Shell in a leading position when it comes to advocating STEM education in The Netherlands.