How does a bird charity get 175,000 followers on TikTok?
The green bird has tough competition. 👀
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Whoooooo (geddit?) are the RSPB? 🦉
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. I’m 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 the fun bird facts and bird of the week series, latter of which is their most popular one.
Starting off with the fun bird facts because that’s 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 would’ve never known that owls can’t eat a whole human in one gulp if it wasn’t for this account. Duolingo hasn’t responded to this allegation, though, so even though the chances of that happening are very low, it’s never zero. The videos’ primary purpose is to be memes, that’s it. You’ll hear some ACTUAL facts here and there, but the primary objective is just to bring the vibes. I’m also glad they’re not denying the anti-geese propaganda because, personally, I think they’re agents of chaos because no creature on God’s green earth needs to have teeth on their tongue. RSPB have actually cleared the anti-geese propaganda, but for the sake of my disdain, we’re going with what I said, but the official account has cleared that geese don’t actually have teeth but conical papillae, a cartilage structure around their tongue to help them eat… 🌈the more you know 🌈
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. They’ve used iconic popular culture references like ‘Who’s that Pokemon’ to introduce the bird. This series ACTUALLY has the facts about birds but is told in a way like you’re speaking to a friend. Where else would you find someone calling an avocet’s legs twigs… 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, it’d be the most chaotic newsletter ever, but I don’t want us to lose clients, so. Technically, I do have free reign, so I’m 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 I’m a huge fan of crossovers.
So, why does it work?
In short? It’s the Duolingo-ification of marketing that’s been happening recently. In RSPB’s case, they’re 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 it’s easier to remember the information because you’re so interested in it as a younger audience, and said the audience would share it further because it’s amusing. Their entire copy strategy is to speak like they’re your friends, which makes you feel closer to them. It doesn’t feel like an official account, even though it is.
Basically, what I’m saying is if your brand is educational, you can make it fun. It doesn’t have to be boring blah blah. You could do a crossover with Subway Surfers and attract new audiences. It’s a game everyone’s played at least once, and the unexpectedness of it is what’ll get you that engagement; even though I’m all about “frick (I have to be brand-friendly) engagement, build community”, 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 we’re always here to chat!
— Brought to you by Shaurya, Trends Reporter at The Z Link