Inspiring the next generation & saving the world —Labs at #MakeTheFuture

Ogilvy Labs headed over to Stratford’s Olympic park last Friday to #MakeTheFuture London. An event hosted by Shell to inspire the next generation by introducing them to new technologies in both motoring and energy in particular. (The event ran from Thursday 30th June — Sunday 3rd July. We attended on Friday 1st July).

Shell’s push for to inspire kids through engaging with them directly, taking them out of the classroom and playing with technology such as VR, self-driving cars and AI appeared genuine. The importance is not only for brand-awareness to a younger audience, but also to save the world.

Myself (Tom), and Jack arrived at around 10. Firstly, we were amazed at the shear size of the event. Semi-permanent structures, stands and a full-size racecourse. We headed straight to the track (of course) and captured this:

A fully-autonomous (self driving) vehicle racing past! — Awesome right!

Amongst all the racing, we reminisced our childhood by playing around with air blaster’s to look into wind power and how it could be a great solution to save this planet and stop burning fossil fuels in the future. It demonstrates that Shell clearly aren’t happy with how much fossil fuels they’re burning and are looking into innovative solutions to reduce that.

Not only are they inspiring themselves, as the event almost acts as a R&D function for Shell (very similar to Ogivly Lab day’s), but inspires kids to think about our future & positions Shell as an ‘innovative’ and ‘trendy’ oil company. A hard sell to children.

VR! of course VR.

Kids love virtual reality. And if they don’t, they probably haven’t tried it. There was plenty of VR experiences to try. At first we were immersed into a future world where we learnt about conservation and sustainable living on Samsung’s Gear VR, next we were on top of a Formula E racing car going around Goodwood’s track.

Here’s jack loving VR:

The big race!

Shell’s eco marathon race started 30 years ago over a bet between two employees. Today, it is an annual event that see’s over 29 countries come together to race and explore innovations within motoring.

Aside from the competitive nature of the event, it also fuels/drives (double-pun) innovation. Not just for racing, but commercial use too. Shell’s self-driving autonomous car uses motion sensors on the track to drive without any assistance from the passenger.

Below is a video showing the 30 years of eco marathon:

Inspire the next generation!

Labs loved #MakeTheFuture. Obviously for the tech, innovation and racing. But more importantly, Shell’s commitment to inspire the next generation. Getting kids into technology, science, engineering and maths will be crucial for the growth of mobility and self-driving cars, among many other technologies to develop.

Thousands of school children attended on Friday alone. Maybe in that huge crowd of kids, one of them might change and save the world. Surely that’s world a trip to the Olympic Park.

Tom Sharman — Social Media Strategist, Ogilvy Labs.