Problem Area
Currently, there is an increase in the amount of burn-outs under millennials in Holland. It has been in a lot of news reports lately and this triggered us to try and find a solution for this very recent problem. Millenials are young adults who are born in the period from 1980-2000. Due to a large mix in educations, different lifestyles and different ways of raising these millennials, there are a lot of different reasons why there is a rising amount of burn-outs under millennials. For example, competitive spirit and a bad influence of the digital world are aspects that cause this increase. In addition, millennials often times get told by their parents that the sky is the limit. Possible effects of this last aspects is that millennials push themselves too hard, don’t get enough sleep due to excessive smartphone usage, being unrealistic and setting unreachable goals. All these factors cause a lot of stress, which eventually could lead to a burn-out. Unfortunately, this is only a small grasp from the ocean of possible causes as well as consequences of this rising problem.
Solution
During our search to find a solution for these problems, we found two essential symptoms:
1. People who are on the edge of getting a burn-out, hardly notice it theirselves.
2. The environment around the person often times have notices the symptoms of the burn-out.
With these findings in our mind, we started developing our concept. This concept got the name “zeg het met een kip” and by using this concept, we focus on the social surroundings of the millennials. By doing so, we playfully try to motivate and activate millennials who have been diagnosed with the symptoms of a burn-out. These motivation and activation are processed in a campaign that consists of three phases.
The primary image that is being used in the campaign, is a chicken. In Dutch, the word for chicken is ‘kip’ which can be used to formulate a Dutch metaphor. In Dutch, there is a saying ‘being a “stresskip” which means “being stressful”. We use the chicken or ‘kip’ as a metaphor for the stressing millenial. Therefore, the campaign will only be understandable for people who speak Dutch.
During our study, we focussed on finding a solution on a scale that was as large as possible. We developed a campaign that can be used on a national level, but could also be scaled down to a more local level.
To test our campaign, we made use of a pilot campaign within our school. Due to the seriousness of this subject, but also due to students finding it a boring subject, we decided to develop a playful and striking style with as main goal; triggering emotions.
Phase01
The first phase of the campaign is in the light of finding the symptoms. To accomplish this, we used posters and call signs. We put a question on these posters and signs. These questions have to activate the target group and help them to start thinking about the symptoms. This could eventually lead to millennials searching for possible cases in their own social environment.
To start generating some traffic, we also put the website stuureenkip.nl on the posters. By doing so, people aren’t left with ‘question marks’ During phase 1, the website does not play a key role in the campaign. In addition, the campaign is being supported with the payoff: “Neem de stress waar, maak het bespreekbaar”.
Translation Poster:
“Doet Mark ook zo afwezig de laatste tijd?” > “Is Mark acting somewhat absent lately?”
“Reageer Laura ook zo emotioneel de laatste tijd?” > “Is Laura acting somewhat emotional lately?”
“Is Esther ook zo gehaast de laatste tijd?” > “Is Esther rushing a lot lately?”
“Doet Jeroen ook zo kortaf de laatste tijd?” > “Is Jeroen acting snippy lately?”
Phase02
In phase 2, sending a chicken is the most important element. By sending a chicken, the social environment can indicate that they found some burn-out symptoms. This could help someone coping with these symptoms. For the second phase, some new posters will be used and a guerrilla action will be started. The main goal of the posters is to lead people top the website of the campaign. After that, they can register for sending a chicken. For the guerrilla action, a physical space will be created where people can send a chicken. During the registration, three elements are essential:
1. With whom did you find the symptoms?
2. What symptoms did you find?
3. From who is the message?
By doing so, the message gets a serious, but also personal tone.
Translation Poster:
Zegt het met een kip! > Say it with a chicken!
stuureenkip.nl > Sendachicken.nl
Neem de stress waar, maak het bespreekbaar. > Observe the stress and make it discussable.
Phase03
The third phase of the campaign is focused on the receiver of the ‘chicken’. In addition, we want to start a conversation between the receiver and the sender. The receiver also gets a message with describes the symptoms and who sent it to him/her. Eventually, the receiver is invited to talk about his symptoms. Currently, this phase is still in development.
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