YoungOnes
From Gig Work to Identity
Client
YoungOnes, a leading gig platform for young freelancers in the Netherlands, connecting students and young workers to flexible day‑to‑day jobs across retail, hospitality and logistics.
Brief & objectives
YoungOnes wanted to build an active and engaged community among young workers. Not by explaining what the platform is, but by making people feel what gig work is like. The objective wasn’t follower growth. It was relevance, engagement and trust.
Challenge and goals
The challenge: gig work is often explained in practical terms, while young workers experience it emotionally.
The goal: shift the narrative from:
- practical → personal
- work → identity
- working → being seen and heard
Insight & strategy
Insight
Young freelancers don’t want to be marketed to, they want to be recognised. When content reflects their real experiences, they don’t just watch, they engage.
Strategy
A TikTok‑first, community‑driven content strategy with zero influencers. Everything built from the inside out: real stories, real voices, real situations.
Creator approach
We didn’t cast influencers. We worked with the community itself.
Young freelancers became the creators, sharing their own stories, frustrations, jokes and wins. That authenticity became the creative advantage.
Community approach
Social wasn’t treated as a broadcast channel, but as a dialogue.
- Content designed to spark recognition and response
- Active community management in comments and replies
- Formats built to invite participation, duets and sharing
The campaign
We rolled out three complementary content approaches:
UGC sketches
Short, humorous sketches showing painfully recognisable freelance moments, from no‑shows to chaotic shifts.
Real testimonials
Young freelancers telling their own stories, in their own words. No scripts. No polish.
Creative UGC formats
Entertaining, contrast‑driven videos that balanced humour with honesty, designed to stop the scroll and hit emotionally.
From teaser moments to recurring formats, the content evolved into something bigger than a campaign: a shared language within the community.
Results
- Engagement on Instagram above benchmark
- Strong growth in visibility on TikTok, with TikTok as the primary reach driver
- From July–September to October–January: video views grew from ~100K to 4.4M+
- Engagements increased by 7x+ in the same period
- Multiple organic videos reaching 200K–900K+ views
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