That’s our motto. Nice and simple.
And one which has underpinned our approach since we opened our doors as fresh-faced creatives over twelve years ago.
We are specialists in recruitment communications.
We work globally, nationally and locally, helping our clients attract and retain the very best talent.
It’s work that demands attention, delivers results and wins awards.
Building good working relationships with every one of our clients is paramount. Through experience, we know they help foster the very best work and the most successful outcomes.
We cover all aspects of the employee talent life-cycle, offering a depth of experience and strategic approach to the very different requirements of each phase.
Establishing a clearly defined Employee Value Proposition is key to attracting, engaging and retaining the very best talent. Using employee focus groups and external research, we work across the entire EVP development process.
Effective communication of an organisation’s brand values, personality and culture helps underpin a strong employer brand. Through a thorough understanding of our clients, our work helps both engage and motivate employees.
Part of any essential HR strategy must be clear and consistent communication. We have experience in creating and delivering internal campaigns through a wide range of channels, from print, to online, to video.
Two different sectors, both requiring skillful marketing to ensure organisations have their USPs seen and heard. We create and deliver campaigns which achieve this, combining strategic thinking and big ideas to hit the target markets.
Lateral hire marketing requires a clear understanding and positioning of an organisations’ offer to this diverse target market. We work closely alongside HR and Brand Marketing departments to ensure the campaigns we create are both successfully on brand and on message.
Reaching out to existing and prospective employees from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds requires careful consideration. Our work across all aspects of diversity marketing – including film – helps change perceptions and build positive engagement.
We bring a strategic, craft-led approach to our work, using whatever media we feel appropriate for each project. The sole intention being to ensure the brief is met with both clarity and flair.
Here’s where we ask as many questions as possible and listen as intently as we can. The insights we gain will form the goalposts we’ll aim at creatively.
No surprises what goes on here. We brainstorm hard to arrive at solutions which answer the brief in not only the most appropriate, but creative, way possible.
The selected concept is then applied consistently – campaign dependent – across a variety of marketing channels, from online and print, to film and exhibitions.
Applying metrics to a campaign should never be left until the end. We continually measure our work from the outset, allowing us to make adjustments as we go.
Some of our campaigns require all of our services. Some just one.
So, whether it’s a one-off advert you’re after, or fully integrated campaign, we cover it all.
We conduct our own focus groups, running them nationally, locally and globally.
We advise on which channels to utilise and when. The foundation of any successful project.
From one-off leaflet, to bespoke book, we know print can still play a part in today’s marketing mix.
Whatever the channel, we create advertising which ensures our campaigns go further.
From web banners to microsites, our work covers all aspects of digital marketing.
We advise on all parts of social: from core strategy to advice for employees on using Twitter.
We handle our own photography as well as choosing from a bank of the finest professionals.
We shoot the world over creating effective and engaging film contentfor employers.
We devise stand-out events which generate buzz and extend the appeal of campaigns.
We not only advise on advertising placement, but also handle the booking of all media.
We have a proven track record working at the very highest level with clients from the FTSE 100 and UK’s top 20 law firms. Working with the very best ensures we raise our game each and every time.
From the fully integrated approach of Grant Thornton’s award-winning graduate campaign, to the subtle wordplay of Babcock’s diversity initiative, the following case studies showcase the strategic thinking and craft-led approach which underpin our work.
Grant Thornton’s brief was to change the emphasis on the type of graduate they were attracting, from numeric specialist to a more all-round business advisor. They also wanted a creative look and feel to their recruitment marketing they could genuinely call their own.
We built the campaign around the strapline: ‘What will your advice be?’ using input from recent Grant Thornton hires. User-generated content via career fairs and Facebook then followed, weekly prizes being given for the best pieces of advice submitted.
The career fair content came through attendees being invited to write their favourite pieces of advice on giant Post-It notes then placing them on the exhibition stand. Grant Thornton submitted all advice lines to their Facebook page and invited users to submit their own. Amazon vouchers were given on a weekly basis for the best advice as voted for by the users, with an iPad
given monthly for the very best line. Placing social media at the heart of the campaign was a key requirement of the brief and the engagement it garnered exceeded all expectations. The campaign has now been embraced globallyand we have created campaign materials for the HR teams in Canada, US and Australia.
Babcock is predominantly a white, male-orientated engineering support services organisation. We were asked to create a fully integrated diversity marketing campaign, one which would help educate their workforce across the UK in what diversity means andhow it is fundamental to the future success of the company.
‘All Together Different’ – the strapline we used for the campaign – is expressed through a short film and a suite of materials used in diversity workshops that each employee was asked to attend. The campaign was endorsed from the very top by Chief Executive, Peter Rogers.
We shot the film in three locations across two days: Devonport Dockyard naval base in Plymouth where Babcock decommission the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarines; Babcock’s head office in London and airside at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 where they devised, installed and run the baggage system. The employees were all filmed answering the same question: ‘why did Babcock choose you?’ Their collective responses showing that
Babcock chose to employ them for their skills, not because of their diversity. The suite of materials created for the workshops included a pack of diversity-based materials for all employees; a guide for Babcock’s managers on how to deal with diversity questions from employees and a suite of posters and pop-up stands for use at presentations across the UK.
In a competitive sector dominated by ‘me too’ marketing, law firm Pinsent Masons required a campaign which would accurately convey their offer, one that would help differentiate themselves from their competition. A strapline telling people to ‘Apply elsewhere’ is definitely controversial, but the reverse psychology works.
It is a line that cannot be ignored; one which demands attention and further investigation. The campaign was built around a series of straight-talking questions, all of which encouraged self-selection. These were then utilised as adverts across all of the campaign collateral.
Printed on newsprint, with its large-scale typography, the piece positioned Pinsent Masons as a very different type of law firm. Bold and confident, the content was kept deliberately light in an attempt to push people to the firm’s website for the more detailed information. Film played a big part in the campaign with over 26 clips of Pinsent Mason’s partners, associates and trainees featured answering a range of questions on a number of
career related questions. The clips were all kept under 30 seconds and refreshingly honest in a nod to the YouTube generation who prefer their content direct, short and sweet. Collectively they build a vivid portrait of what life is actually like at the firm. For year two of the campaign, the brochure was redesigned according to post-campaign feedback, with an ever tighter structure to the ‘Apply Elsewhere’ format.
Smith and Williamson realised their exisiting lateral hire website wasn’t conveying the firm as professionally as they wanted to and as such it was having a noticeable effect on the number of applications. Our solution was to bring the firm, and the people who worked there, to life through photography and film.
Smith and Williamson’s people were all asked the same question: ‘what is the clear difference for you working at the firm?’ Compelling anecdotes, combined with stylish photography of the firm’s interiors, now portray the firm in a very different light, rightly positioning it as a credible employer to future talent.
Why not pop in for tea and biscuits? We’re based in The Biscuit Factory in Bermondsey, one stop from London Bridge on the Jubilee Line. This Victorian building was once home to the areas largest employer in the 1900s, biscuit-maker, Peek Freans. It’s the reason why you’ll find us tucked away in Bourbon Studios. The kettle’s on.
If you would like to discuss a potential project, or just find out what we could do for you, please call us on 0845 076 0340. We'd be delighted to hear from you.
