The youth market has become increasingly important to BPAY's future. Communicating effectively to this market of 16-24 years olds now, will ensure a new generation of bill payers use BPAY going forward. BPAY is developing a campaign targeting the youth market with the objective of building awareness of their bill payment options and the benefits of using BPAY. The campaign will be 'drip-fed' over a period of 12-18 months.

It is important to billing organisations to ensure the future generation of bill payers are educated on lower cost payment channels.

The campaign includes several key elements including a dedicated microsite to be launched in early 2010 and a number of 'virals' or mini-films that will each promote a different feature of BPAY. This will lead into a competition "The Biggest Most Awesome Waste of Time" where people are invited to suggest their idea of the biggest most awesome waster of time. The winner of this competition will have their idea created and filmed.

Christina Aventi, Strategic Planner at BMF, BPAY's advertising agency, spoke to BPAY about the challenges and strategies required to communicate effectively with the youth market. "Youth are apathetic to bills, they are just not on their radar. We had to find a way to engage them so we translated a core BPAY benefit of 'saves you time' into their currency, it 'gives you the freedom to waste time on things you want to'. We didn't want to judge but instead celebrate time wasting pursuits. We knew that youth wanted a brand that stayed true to itself and gave them some control by giving them tools to hone their creative skills. This idea does just that," Christina commented. "The mini films are basically part of the promotion, giving people ideas on how others have indulged in time-wasting and the entertainment it can generate. They are meant to surprise, inspire and engage."

Visit awesometimewasting.com.au early in the new year to view the virals, or feel free to add your own awesome time wasting idea!