When it comes to recruitment advertising, creativity and fun are often pretty low down on a company’s agenda. For most organisations, recruitment advertising is simply something they have to do to fill a job role, and while some companies will do their best to make a job role seem exciting, the adverts are very rarely exciting themselves. There are of course exceptions to this rule, and over the years we have seen a few examples of witty, creative and eye-catching recruitment adverts. We’ve rounded up 5 of our favourite examples, to help inspire you for your next recruitment advertising campaign.
Recruitment advertising campaigns that we loved
Recruitment Advertising: The Berrge Tattoo QR code
IMAGE FROM: ADSOFTHEWORLD.COM
This campaign was launched in 2013 for an Istanbul based Tattoo studio called Berrge Tattoo. While QR codes didn’t take off as well as their creators may have hoped, this company found an extremely creative way to incorporate them into their recruitment advertising plans. Running an advert in a local newspaper, the tattoo studio printed an advert to state that they were hiring, with a “ghost version” of a QR code that when completed (very carefully) would lead to a link to apply for the role. We loved this particular campaign because it combined both intrigue from an advert that was different to the norm, but it also allowed the company to test users before they apply, demanding only the most careful and neat tattoo artists to gain access to the application.
Recruitment Advertising: Burger King’s “arketing anager”
We’ve spotted this advert a few times over the years in different recruitment blogs, and it remains a firm favourite for us. Firstly the job title with missing letters “ARKETING ANAGER” grabs your attention instantly, and when you read on to discover why this glaring spelling mistake has been made you see a tongue in cheek reference to their competitors McDonalds with a “don’t mention the M” remark. The advert isn’t doing anything overly clever, yet it makes an impact and shows a fun and cheeky side to the brand.
Recruitment Advertising: Graphic Designer Wanted
IMAGE FROM: DESKET.CO
We’re not entirely sure which company created this advert, or if it is in fact a real recruitment advert at all! This image has been doing the rounds lately on social media, and we can’t help but smile when we see it! The reason we love it? The advert imagery demonstrates the company’s need for hiring a particular candidate – clearly showing the world that they can’t even create a recruitment advert properly without hiring a graphic designer! Posting a screenshot of a very basic message created on Microsoft paint highlights the key message and shows that they don’t take themselves too seriously, something that could be injected into your own recruitment advertising campaigns.
Recruitment Advertising: McDonalds’ bold advert
IMAGE FROM: ADS OF THE WORLD
When you first catch a glimpse of this Swedish McDonalds advert you might be thinking that the statement is totally racist and offensive. It certainly catches your eye! McDonalds hadn’t totally lost their minds when they chose this recruitment advertising approach however! Where the bold text may have read: “We don’t hire Turks, Greeks, Poles, Indians, Ethiopians, Vietnamese, Chinese or Peruvians.”, the small print followed this up with “Nor Swedes, South Koreans, or Norwegians. We hire individuals. We don’t care what your surname is. Because ambition and determination have nothing to do with your nationality. McDonald’s is one of the most integrated companies in Sweden, with as many as ninety-five nationalities working for us. Join us at mcdonalds.se”. A bold idea that shocks the reader and then quickly turns the context inside out by showing that the company values diversity and inclusion when it comes to hiring! Would you dare to be this bold with your next campaign?
Recruitment Advertising: Generating PR buzz
This isn’t based on a single campaign, but instead there are a few companies that have won some serious PR kudos by transforming their job vacancy into something that excites and intrigues the reader. Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu gained a lot of PR exposure for their unique internship (cleverly titled In-Turtle-Ship) which gave candidates the opportunity to care for turtles on their luxurious Maldivian island! Another opportunity that made headlines was for a “Director of Taste” where a candidate could travel the world taste-testing food with a £50,000 salary! The role was actually for Vibrant Vegan Co and was specifically aimed at taste-testing plant based food, an attractive opportunity for a lot of candidates! One of our favourite jobs that gained a lot of PR exposure however was for a professional sleeper – pretty much a dream job for a lot of people! This came from high-tech sleep brand Simba, where candidates could apply to join their “Dream Team” and take part in a one-month sleep experiment! We can’t wait to see what the next weird and wacky job is that gains PR buzz!
So you might not go as bold as these brands when it comes to recruitment advertising for your next job role, but there are a few key takeaways that you can apply to your own strategy:
Intrigue the candidate – if you can spark their curiosity early on you are more likely to have a candidate read your full job description and apply for your role.Set a challenge – if your role requires a specific skill-set or candidate trait consider making this part of your application process.Don’t take yourself too seriously – if your brand is highly serious and corporate then it makes sense to communicate this in your recruitment advertising. If however you have a more fun and relaxed culture this should come across to the candidate, so lighten up a little!Be bold – the McDonalds recruitment advert was quick to grab your attention, and you too can take this approach (perhaps in a less risqué way) to stand out and grab a candidates attention!Make it interesting – the reason that some jobs gain lots of PR exposure? They are taking those key details of the job role that appeal to a candidate and pushing them to the front of the story. If you have quirky employee perks, funky offices or a unique story behind your brand then you need to shout about it in your adverts!
Enjoyed this blog? Why not check out “How to get creative with job advertising” too.
