How a bird charity managed to get 175,000 followers on TikTok ๐
The green bird has tough competition. ๐
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Whoooooo (geddit?) are the RSPB? ๐ฆ
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, or the RSPB, is a charity for bird conservation. It brings together volunteers who have a passion for birds and wildlife and want to take action to restore the slowly fading biodiversity. Their work is science-driven and focuses on five areas: species, science, place, policy and people.
The five areas of focus all have a reason. The survival of wildlife species is the best sign of whether conservation efforts are working. At the same time, science-backed research helps them examine the planet's overarching problems.
What are they feeding the audience?
Climate and environmental causes are important to Gen Z. So, when a brand or organisation is making genuine efforts, naturally, they will have a large Gen Z following, but retaining that demographic is tough. For Gen Z, humour and education must go hand in hand because the world is already bleak. If we have to learn more distressing things, at least make it fun to alleviate some of the tension while still being respectful.
RSPB does a good job of balancing educating while remaining humorous. Iโm pretty sure the information that they share and in the way that they share is far easier to retain than if i were to read a simple article. Two of their ongoing series that really stood out to me were theย fun bird factsย andย bird of the weekย series, latter of which is their most popular one.
Starting off with the fun bird facts because thatโs my favourite series on this account and what made me consider following them. This is peak Gen-Z humour without coming off as too try-hard. I swear I wouldโve never known that owls canโt eat a whole human in one gulp if it wasnโt for this account. Duolingo hasnโt responded to this allegation, though, so even though the chances of that happening are very low, itโs never zero. The videosโ primary purpose is to be memes, thatโs it. Youโll hear some ACTUAL facts here and there, but the primary objective is just to bring the vibes. Iโm also glad theyโre not denying the anti-geese propaganda because, personally, I think theyโre agents of chaos because no creature on Godโs green earth needs to have teeth on their tongue. RSPB have actually cleared the anti-geese propaganda, but for the sake of my disdain, weโre going with what I said, but the official account has cleared that geese donโt actually have teeth but conical papillae, a cartilage structure around their tongue to help them eatโฆ ๐the more you know ๐
Moving on from my clear bias, we have their MOST popular series, bird of the week. The premise is straightforward: each week, they pick a bird from a totally randomised spin wheel that is not at all rigged and talk about it in the most hilarious way possible. Theyโve used iconic popular culture references like โWhoโs that Pokemonโ to introduce the bird. This series ACTUALLY has the facts about birds but is told in a way like youโre speaking to a friend. Where else would you find someone calling an avocetโs legs twigsโฆ Or saying they could do the stanky leg? NOWHERE ELSE BUT HERE, FOLKS. And also, on this newsletter, if my boss gave me free rein of this newsletter, itโd be the most chaotic newsletter ever, but I donโt want us to lose clients, so. Technically, I do have free reign, so Iโm not complaining. But anyway, the comments on the posts of this series have confirmed that this is their favourite way of learning. Mercedes has also commented on one of their posts for some odd reason, but Iโm a huge fan of crossovers.
So, why does it work?
In short? Itโs the Duolingo-ification of marketing thatโs been happening recently. In RSPBโs case, theyโre mixing humour and education to attract AND RETAIN audiences. Like, this entire account seems like something Captain Holt would use to get Jake Peralta interested in birdwatching (and it would work). And itโs easier to remember the information because youโre so interested in it as a younger audience, and said the audience would share it further because itโs amusing. Their entire copy strategy is to speak like theyโre your friends, which makes you feel closer to them. It doesnโt feel like an official account, even though it is.
Basically, what Iโm saying is if your brand is educational, you can make it fun. It doesnโt have to be boring blah blah. You could do a crossover with Subway Surfers and attract new audiences. Itโs a game everyoneโs played at least once, and the unexpectedness of it is whatโll get you that engagement; even though Iโm all about โfrick (I have to be brand-friendly) engagement, build communityโ, you need that engagement to slowly build a community because that community is what will propel your brand forward. Memes really are the way forward. Embrace the cringe, embrace the shitposting.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the next issue covering latest marketing campaigns and strategies winning over Gen Z. Any questions/suggestions as to what we should cover next? Reach out to us and weโre always here to chat!
โ Brought to you by Shaurya, Trends Reporter at The Z Link