A campaign positioning the brand as a tool of creativity: teaching kids the basics of content creation, whilst demonstrating to parents the real skill that goes into it, via a series of YouTuber masterclasses.

The Challenge

NERF has strong brand awareness amongst parents and majority of purchases are driven through pester power (whining) and specific blaster product request (I want that one!) from a child.   

We were challenged to grow the bread amongst boys agree 6 ton9 in a cluttered market and maintain relevance by positioning NERF as a lifestyle brand, embraced by kids as well as parents. 

However, audience insights unearthed a niggling negative perception of NERF amongst a cohort of parents that we couldn’t ignore. We found some parents were not considering purchasing NERF citing the reason as the product being 'dangerous' and 'not wanting my kids to play with them'.

We therefore had a dual challenge – we had to deliver a campaign that would infiltrate the hearts and habits of a 6–9-year-old boy, but also tackle and defend against negative perceptions of the ‘Blaster’ category to parents.   

The Approach

YouTubers are what boys want to be when they grow up! They want a channel and they want to make content – but parents are scared and ill equipped with how to navigate.

NERF is featured in over 64 million videos on YouTube alone. The process of content creation flexes many positive muscles not necessarily embraced at school - creativity, imagination, confidence – as well as technical skills (filming, editing etc.) - that are all beneficial.

Therefore, the strategy is to position NERF as a tool for creativity by arming kids with the skills they need to create amazing YouTube content and educate the creative positives to Parents.

The Solution

Introducing NERF Upload… a campaign that positions the brand as a tool of creativity: teaching kids the basics of content creation, whilst demonstrating to parents the real skill that goes into it, via a series of YouTuber masterclasses during October half-term. 

A multi-layered campaign utilising research to find parents' concerns towards their children aspiring to be content creators. Partnering with famous YouTubers to be our teachers, celeb dad Jimmy Bullard to talk about the school and media partnerships to bring to life both the IRL and digital events.  

The Impact

Overwhelmingly positive response on social media. Every event session was full – with 104 attendees in real life and a further 1,100 to the digital experience.