The Challenge:
GKN Aerospace needed to attract a new generation of apprentices from across Bristol and the South West. The brief was not just about awareness. It was about reaching young people who may not see aerospace as a place for them. They also had a strong DIB focus including women, ethnicities, LGBTQ+ and neurodiverse individuals. The challenge was to cut through on the fast-moving platform TikTok while still delivering relevance, credibility and genuine interest.
Strategy Approach:
Young audiences respond to people, not polished corporate messaging. We needed to build trust and interest. TikTok is discovery led, so instead of chasing volume, we focused on intent.
By aligning the creative with platform native trends and pairing it with keyword and contextual targeting, we could reach people already exploring careers, education and engineering pathways at the right moment.
The Solution:
We built the campaign around a simple TikTok trend called ‘This or That’.
Real apprentices and employees took part, stepping between choices that reflected both aerospace life and Bristol culture. The format allowed us to show personality, diversity and pride in skilled work while keeping the content quick, visual and authentic.
Two creative routes were tested. One leaned into aerospace specific language, the other used more local and lifestyle driven prompts.
Both were rooted in real people and real stories, helping demystify aerospace and make it feel accessible.
How We Delivered:
We worked closely with GKN Aerospace to develop and produce the content, ensuring authenticity at every stage.
The media strategy combined keyword and contextual targeting, placing ads alongside content related to engineering, careers and education.
This ensured relevance and quality over cheap reach, supporting long term recruitment outcomes rather than short term clicks.
Throughout the campaign we monitored performance week by week, learning how seasonality and creative length affected engagement and using those insights to shape future recommendations.
The Result:
The campaign delivered strong reach and meaningful engagement within a niche audience.
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784,544 impressions
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2,236 clicks
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62% impressions and clicks came from a female audience, supporting diversity objectives
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1,713 first time users were driven to the GKN Aerospace careers
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Fourth most viewed page on the career site during the campaign period
While CTR sat below broad TikTok benchmarks, this reflected the deliberate focus on intent led audiences rather than mass entertainment reach. The campaign validated TikTok as a credible and effective channel for apprenticeship recruitment and created a strong foundation for future optimisation.
