Your Place To...

Some of the strongest LGBTQIA+ talent in the Dutch creative agency landscape have collaborated on a powerful new creative campaign to mark the relaunch of Jong&Out, the world’s first social media platform for queer youth in the Netherlands. Celebrating the many facets of queer joy, the campaign is centred on the idea of a space that young LGBTQIA+ people can define for themselves - something the entire pro-bono team wished they could have had access to as queer teenagers.

Created by COC - the world’s oldest LGBTQIA+ non-profit organisation - in response to the specific mental health issues plaguing queer youth, Jong&Out provides a much-needed safe space for young queer people - a particularly valuable resource when hate crimes against the LGBTQIA+ community are still rife. With LGBTQIA+ youth twice as likely to face mental health issues, and 4.5 times more likely than their heterosexual and cisgender peers to commit suicide, Jong & Out was inspired by statistics showing that the best way to combat these issues is to put young queer people in contact with like-minded others.

Initially launched in 2020, the platform has already amassed over 4,000 members - harnessing social media as a force for good and providing a vital mental health resource for one of the world’s most vulnerable groups. To mark its three year anniversary, the relaunch campaign aims to encourage even more LGBTQIA+ young people to join the community, connect online and to meet-up in person. Fresh, fun, aspirational and most of all accessible to its target audience - queer youth aged 12-18 - the campaign spans a new visual identity for the app, a 30-second mixed-media campaign film directed by Gianna Mazzeo and a social media activation featuring some of the biggest youth influencers in the Netherlands.

Led by strategist Steph Morrow, founder of STUDIO WORROM and former head of strategy at VIRTUE (VICE Media), the pro bono team behind the campaign is made up of some of the leading queer marketers in the Netherlands. Pairing high level industry experience with personal experience made them the perfect team to deliver this campaign and show how Jong&Out can empower and support the LGBTQIA+ youth of today - with every team member united by the wish that there had been this kind of community platform during their teenage years.