The Norwegian Sea Rescue Society is a nationwide humanitarian association whose purpose is to save lives salvage assets and protect the coastal environment of Norwegian waters, as well as undertaking outreach and prevention initiatives to improve the safety of those at sea in Norway.
In the summer of 2020, due to more people spending their summer vacation in Norway instead of going abroad, The Norwegian Sea Rescue Society, were afraid that drowning and water-related accidents would increase. Especially among the younger generation, a target audience the 130-year-old Norwegian Sea Rescue Society historically have struggled with engaging.
In those critical times The Norwegian Sea Rescue Societey needed a strong and long-lasting strategy to establish themselves as a relevant organization for the young target audience.
How could we break through the noise on social media with our important message? We know that the target audience does not respond well to communication that preach behavior change. So a strategy was set. Stop preaching, start focusing on water-joy and let the target audience create the communication themselves on TikTok.
The strategy was kickstarted with announcing (maybe) the world’s first job on TikTok. And the job hunt was a hit! We got over 300 applications from all over Norway, where young people applied by self-created TikTok-videos.
In the end, the choice fell on Max og Torkel, that would go on to create content that would break all records. Having fun, while promoting water-safety and engaging with the young followers. After the first summer, the duo continued to make great content, capitalizing on the change of seasons and current events. To continue engaging and be relevant to the target audience, we introduced a new theme and objective for Max and Torkel each summer.
In 2021 we continued breaking records and sent our TikTokers on Norway’s first ever TikTok tour. They traveled across all of Norway to meet and engage with local fans and local press - creating content along the way.
In 2022 The Norwegian Sea Rescue Society wanted to highlight all the different water-activity classes that is available for the target audience, so Max and Torkel went back to school. They tried everything from kayaking to underwater-rugby and mermaiding. Inspiring their fans to try it out themselves and giving Max and Torkel suggestions on what to do next.
The Norwegian Sea Rescue Society presence on TikTok has broken all records in Norway during these years with:
25,3 million organic video views (not bad for a country with 652 000 people in the target audience!)
56 300 engaged followers🧜♀️🧜🏽
2,7 million likes❤️
Max and Torkel have also became favorites with the press in these three years, generating newsworthy content that led to PR value of 600 000 euros.
During the first summer, there was a 50% decrease in boat-related accidents and a 10% decrease in drowning-accidents among young people.
63% of those between 16 and 25 have seen the content, and since the launch on TikTok, The Norwegian Sea Rescue Society brand recognition has gone up from 32% to 53% among the target audience. (Source: Ipsos)
