Harnessing the communications skills of young people
Make the Future Yours! is a new magazine aimed at 15-19-year olds which sets out to highlight the diverse range of career and training opportunities available across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The magazine, which has recently produced a preview issue aimed at potential advertisers, will have its full launch to readers in November.
In order to launch the title, Havant-based publishing company, The Future Business, has developed an exciting new concept, which will involve employing a team of young people under the Government’s recently announced ‘Kickstart’ scheme. Under the scheme, announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak as part of his Plan for Jobs, employers can offer youngsters aged 16-24 who are claiming Universal Credit a six-month work placement. The Future Business plan to form a marketing agency, to be branded ‘The Future Marketing Agency’, staffed by a team of young people, and mentored by experienced marketing professionals, to launch and promote the new magazine.
Commenting on this new initiative The Future Business, Marketing Director, Julian Gee said, “Communicating with young people in the magazine’s target audience of 15-19 year olds is a challenging task, but there is no one who knows how young people of that age think and feel about their futures better than others in a similar age group. In recent years I have done a lot of work with young people in schools and universities and have seen their communication talents in action, especially in social media. The formation of The Future Marketing Agency, to launch our new magazine, is a fabulous chance for us to harness those talents and give a group of young people a unique experience of the world of work.”
The company has submitted its application to offer Kickstart placements and if it is successful with this, hopes to be able to start recruiting its agency team in October, so they can make an early start on their launch plans. These are likely to include extensive use of the full variety of social media channels and producing exciting video content.
Founder and CEO of The Future Business David Hewlett commented, “As our magazine ‘Make the Future Yours! is all about helping young people find their future direction and securing their first foot on the employment ladder, we thought giving a group of Kickstart trainees their first job by promoting the magazine was a great fit with our company mission, and an opportunity too good to miss!”