The RADs has become known as the ‘Oscars’ of the recruitment advertising world, celebrating creative campaigns to attract and retain talent. With just 15 days to go until entries close for the 2018 awards, we look back on some of the headline grabbing work that made the grade in 2017.
Work of the Year
Tonic Agency worked with the British Army to create a compelling campaign entitled ‘With Heart, With Mind’, which ran across a number of platforms including video platform Periscope and Tumblr.
Enter now!
The RADs celebrates the most creative, the most effective and the most influential work in the recruitment advertising industry.
Entries are now open and will close 29 September. For more information and to take part, visit the 2018 RAD awards website.
The recruitment process itself included a virtual reality reconstruction of the assault course at Sandhurst military college, and the #withheartwithmind hashtag generated more than 345,000 interactions. There was also an interactive truck roadshow that went on a unique tour of the UK’s universities.
Work of the Year goes to one of the winners of the individual awards categories – the British Army also won Innovation of the Year, Print Advertisement of the Year, and the Outdoors, Events and Experiential category.
Candidate Engagement
02 is on a mission to create a “completely unexpected” experience for customers with its ‘Stores of the Future’, and it needed to attract a team to match.
Its recruitment drive included pop-up stores in Manchester and London with eye-grabbing visuals and even a guitarist, to mirror the funky atmosphere it wants to create in the new stores. The company created an immersive experience where candidates took a digital quiz and role-played a customer interaction with an actor, as well as a Skype exercise.
The theme of the recruitment drive was to attract a “different someone”, extending out to potential candidates who might not have considered working in a phone shop before. 02’s agency Chatter Communications carried this message through every step of the process, even giving candidates a themed gift box to congratulate them for being a “different someone”.
Candidate Interaction (including gamification and competitions)
After the financial crash in 2008, there were widespread negative perceptions of the financial services sector, which left many employers struggling to attract new talent.
Allianz Global Investors chose to tackle this head-on through an innovative gamification campaign with Casual Films.
The campaign showcases the culture and range of career opportunities at the company through an interactive quiz activity called ‘The Investment Factor’. Candidates are invited to a virtual induction where they meet colleagues and are asked to undertake a number of tasks and make key decisions.
Characters and scenarios were developed using Allianz GI’s core values of excellence, integrity, passion and respect. Content is customised to each individual and the decisions they make, so each candidate’s journey is personalised. Points are awarded when the potential candidate exhibits behaviours required to become a successful portfolio manager.
With humour and personality, the RADs judges said it made “a potentially dry subject extremely entertaining.”
Use of audio
Delivery company Yodel needs to recruit thousands of new drivers and couriers during its peak period at Christmas, and turned to advertising agency SMRS to come up with an impactful audio campaign.
Its “everyday hero” radio ad claims that “no parcel is too small, no guard dog too scary”, and follows a win for Yodel in 2016 for a print campaign based on Top Gear’s recruitment drive for new presenters the year before.
The audio category is now in its second year in the RADs, reflecting a growth in interest in the medium as others, such as print, decline.
Use of social
Pink Squid’s social media campaign for Jaguar Land Rover, with the hashtag #racetowin, aimed to set the car maker apart from competitors such as BAE and Rolls Royce when recruiting apprentices.
It included a virtual race on Instagram, where apprentices reposted an image, tagged it with the @jlr_apprentice handle, and then had to keep their ‘car’ in front in order to win.
A prize for ‘most mileage’ over the course of the full race was also included, helping to heighten engagement and increase participation throughout the week. The company posted leaderboards, reminders, informative content and videos to keep up the momentum.
Bonus cars and additional information ran on Snapchat, ensuring a tied-in user experience across apprentice channels. Prizes for the 19 winners included tickets to the Jaguar Alive Tour – a chance to experience how Jaguar Land Rover’s vehicles are brought to life.
More than 6,700 posts using #jlrracetowin were made over the course of the campaign, with 1,104 likes on the campaign’s images. Sixty percent of the new followers generated went on to apply for a role.
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