All young people, regardless of the time they were born, have one thing in common – very few things pique their curiosity. In that respect, Gen Z (those born after 1997) is no different.
Their interest starts on social media – TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, just like Millennials hunted for their interests on Facebook, StumbleUpon, or Ebaumsworld (this one is pretty niche, I know).
For everyone else, if they want to break into the minds and hearts of these future generations, they need to meet them where they are.
This concept is very well-known to Mati Kochavi – an Israeli serial entrepreneur whose history project on social media recorded some impressive results and earned him and his daughter a couple of praise-worthy rewards.
When Mati decided to bring an important history lesson to the younger generation, he didn’t pay for an ad on the TV or rent out a bunch of billboards. He took to Instagram and absolutely nailed it.
A challenging topic on a light-hearted platform
Mati set himself a tough goal to meet: educating Gen Z on what happened during World War II, what the Holocaust looked like, and what the consequences of one of humanity’s worst atrocities were.
He upped the ante even further when he, together with his daughter Maya, decided that they would do it through one of the most light-hearted, easy-going social media platforms there are – Instagram.
The vision was an ambitious one: create a set of photos and Instagram stories, based on a true story of a Jewish girl living in wartime Nagyvàrad, Hungar, at the very heart of Nazi-occupied Europe.
The project involved a multi-million-dollar budget, hundreds of actors, extras, countless costumes, as well as replicas of WW2 tanks and other vehicles.
The story followed the 13-year-old girl called Eva, as she records her final days, being taken away into Auschwitz and eventually, murdered. The Instagram posts have everything one can expect from Instagram posts belonging to a teenager – hashtags, lingo, emojis.
Despite the challenges, Eva Stories Project, was a resounding success. It garnered more than a million followers, was covered in more than 70 countries around the world, and was talked about in 27 different languages. According to one source, the project has had more than 300 million views on the platform, as well as a billion views and shares from all kinds of opinion makers, and influencers.
