The voice of Gen Z
What does "being a woman" mean in society and why does gender inequality still exist? How can we live more sustainably and what is the point of representation in the media? Rosanne "Rosie" Coetsier seeks answers to these and other questions in "Rebels With A Cause," a podcast for the Gen Z'er who gives something to the world, created from collaboration between the Free University of Brussels (VUB) and Chase.
The goal of this project was to raise awareness of social issues and initiate discussions. At the same time, it constitutes a platform that highlights young thinkers and the topics they are passionate about. We are convinced that young people have something to say and can come up with brilliant ideas. It would be a shame not to let them have their say.
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Transforming complicated topics into an engaging and accessible video podcast
Each episode focuses on a theme from the World Sustainable Development Goals, set by the United Nations, and shows Brussels as a creative and vibrant city. After thorough research and planning, we determined 8 themes: mental health, affordable and sustainable energy, poverty, sustainable cities, gender equality, reducing inequality between countries, sustainable development and quality education.
The challenge was to mold these robust topics into a format with accessible and understandable conversations for young adults that appealed at the same time. The goal was to spark discussions, make listeners think and encourage action. Therefore, we chose enthusiastic young creators and activists such as Mohamed el Hajjouti, Laura From The Desert and Abdullah Sediqi. Each of them has clear opinions and stories to tell. All in all, the most appropriate representatives of youth and the ideal people to have deep conversations with.
Besides being a platform for inspiring young people, we wanted to make this project educational. Therefore, we also selected a number of VUB professors and scientists-our sounding boards and fact checkers on duty. They work daily on the topics explained, which makes them the right experts to educate the listener and provide interesting statements. Their insights added value to the conversations and helped determine the structure of the episodes.
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A full 360-degree Gen Z campaign
Music podcasts haven't worked to get noticed for a long time. Young people from this generation place much more importance on visuals, making YouTube the platform of choice for listening and watching podcasts. "Rebels With A Cause" could not be left behind and therefore became a video podcast on all major podcasting platforms and YouTube. For the visual part of this project, we chose meaningful and aesthetic locations in Brussels. They served as the setting for all the conversations held.
When it comes to social media, Gen Z prefers Instagram and TikTok. Therefore, it was necessary to adapt our promotional campaign to both platforms. The result is an attractive and colorful corporate identity that is reflected in a series of social media posts and vertical video teasers. We also set up a broad ad campaign on these platforms.
There was also outdoor advertising that increased the visibility of this project: printed posters, digital screens and campus totems, to be seen throughout the VUB campus.
The result is 8 in-depth episodes with brilliant guests and a 360-degree campaign with killer content, educational interviews and a corporate identity that really speaks to Gen Z.
Want to know more about this project? Take a look at the VUB website here. You can find all episodes on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
Credits
VUB team:
- Research: Lies Feron, Sarah Janssens
- Marketing & PR team: Cynthia Pieters, Heleen van Schooneveld, Ann Van Driessche
- Scientists: Imke Baetens, Eveline Peeters, Marc Theeboom, Dimo Kavadias, Karen Celis, Hans De Wolf, Latifah Abdou, Inge Placklé
Chase team:
- Pre-production: Hanne Van Vlaenderen
- Research: Hanne Van Vlaenderen, Ioni Villanueva, Charissa Vanthieghem
- Production: Hanne Van Vlaenderen, Hanne Penninck
- Audio recording: Wederik De Backer, Bert Ballegeer
- Video recording: Reda Iben Boura, Alexandre Brehm
- Story editor: Hanne Van Vlaenderen, Rosanne Coetsier
- Audio mix: Wederik De Backer
- Strategy: Jan D'hont
- Host: Rosanne Coetsier
- Story coach: Pieter Blomme
- Podcast promotion, artwork, social content, copy & visuals: Hanne Penninck, Ioni Villanueva, Michael Chin, Sophie Oome, Emma Pouleyn
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