in partnership with the Guardian
The overall victor in this year's competition is a superb case study in how to harness a range of media to broadcast a consistent and powerful message, writes Pauline Crofts
Hertfordshire Constabulary's successful and innovative campaign to recruit voluntary police officers, developed through its agency, the Bernard Hodes Group, has won the Grand Prix at this year's CIPD Recruitment Marketing Awards.
The judges agreed that it was a stunning campaign that worked on all levels. Creative, innovative and well targeted, it illustrated the value of a close client-agency partnership. As well as winning the recruitment effectiveness category, it was also a finalist in the campaign, innovation and outdoor categories, highlighting its strength among plenty of other powerful submissions.
In recognising and celebrating the best in recruitment marketing, the competition provided plenty of material to inspire and motivate – something that is more important than ever in a tough climate. This year saw some changes in the format, with the introduction of a new category: candidate experience. This focused on recruitment activities from the jobseeker's viewpoint, whether during the application process, the interview or afterwards, reflecting the fact that good marketing continues beyond the attraction stage.
While creativity is essential, these awards also focused on business performance improvement. The recruitment effectiveness, employer brand and diversity categories were all grouped under the new heading of "business impact", indicating the change that many recruitment advertising agencies have faced as they have diversified and broadened the range of complementary services they offer.
"It made sense to us to reflect these changes in our industry," said Adam Winterton, managing director of Euro RSCG Riley, who chaired the business impact panel and was also joint chair of the awards. All entries under this heading included supporting material to demonstrate the particular challenge faced, how the solution was developed and what effects it had.
Other specialist judging panels covered three further category groups: art and copy; creative; and digital. All category winners went through to a wider judging panel to choose the Grand Prix winner. The judges included agency professionals, creative directors, online experts and HR professionals representing the client side.
Craig Robinson, creative director at TMP Worldwide and joint chair of the awards, emphasised the robust criteria used in the judging process. "We take our responsibility very seriously to make sure the work is recognised as best in class," he said.
Despite budget constraints in these turbulent times, there is plenty of creative and high-quality work being produced, judging by the standard of entries this year. For example, Shell's and JWT/MediaCom's originality in their use of Google Earth as the basis of a lateral-thinking adventure game targeting graduates helped them to win both the innovation and digital categories. Online technology was an element of many entries. As the overall winner showed, an integrated approach may harness a wide variety of media in one campaign. The challenge is to ensure that these all come together to form a cohesive whole – one that targets the right audience and puts across a consistent employer brand image. Beautiful crafting, originality and creativity were also rewarded in those categories that used more traditional media – press advertising, for example. Above all, these awards show that the recruitment marketing industry has plenty of talented people who are continuing to raise the bar and deliver highly innovative and effective solutions.
THE JUDGES
Creative panel: Craig Robinson (chair), TMP Worldwide; Paul Rizzello, JWT Advertising; Nick Ball, Work Group; Manda Crowder, andsome; David Dearlove, freelance; Jon Dobinson, Other Creative; Alison Heron, KPMG; Jason Legrand, aia; Cathy Hyde, Bernard Hodes; Iain McLaughlin, GlaxoSmithKline; Julia Porter-Robinson, T-Mobile; Jez Chance, Transport for London; Louise Attenborough, WDAD.
Business impact panel: Adam Winterton (chair), Euro RSCG Riley; Dave Benson, Oxfam GB; Jo Brickell, Peer Group Communications; Mike Burgneay, Penna Recruitment Communications; Richard Goff, CIPD; Sally Milne, Lloyds TSB; Esther O'Halloran, Paul UK; Elisa Pearson, IBM UK and Ireland; Jim Shannon, Giraffe; Dianah Worman, CIPD.
Art and copy panel: Gavin Anderson (chair), ThirtyThree; John Berridge, JWT; Simon Bolton, Barkers; Stephen Dix, Bernard Hodes; Martin Homent, Euro RSCG Riley; Rosanna Hunter, TCS; Mark Rice, andsome; Jonathan Richards, Penna.
Digital panel: Tsz Wu (chair), TMP Worldwide; Davor Krvavac, AKQA; Dean Parker, SAS; Andy Hyatt, Bernard Hodes; Bruce Robertson, ITV; Simon Smith, FCB; Adam Lach-Szyrma, Tribal Group; Ryan Thomas, Barkers; Camilla Leonelli, Euro RSCG Riley.
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