Research shows that 73% of employees in Serbia are unhappy with their job; the research also shows that changing jobs is one of life’s most stressful events. Infostud, one of the leading job search platforms decided to change that.
The task was to encourage people to start searching for a better suited job by using examples of people who are in the public eye and whose success was due to their willingness to change. Neda Ukraden (singer and solicitor), Marko Šelić Marcelo (writer and former tattoo artist) and Dejan Pantelić (TV host and former baker).
The basis for the campaign were a series of hilarious videos of the protagonists in hypothetical situations: what would have become of them had they not changed their job. On top of that, billboards were strategically placed around the city (for instance Neda Ukraden’s billboard, former solicitor, was placed by the Law School) in order to start a conversation about career change.
In the first week on YouTube, the campaign attracted a lot of attention organically and sparked an avalanche of comments on social networks.
Milena Đorić Gudurić, Account Director, McCann Beograd, talked about the campaign Find a New Job for Media Marketing within our BalCannes series of interviews.
We came up with the idea … at one of the brainstorming sessions where the conversation went in the direction – what would we be today had we not chosen to change our career paths at some point in our lives. The number of those who wouldn’t be doing what they do today, or would do something that would make them only partially satisfied, just because they studied a certain subject, or it was their first job, was astonishing. Of course, even at this first session it was clear that humor would be an important part of these ads.
Our guiding thought was … the courage to look for better for yourself, even when your environment says, “Sit down and be happy to even have a job.”
During the realization, the biggest problem we encountered was … persuading celebrities, whose stories about their first job were inspiring and entertaining for us – to participate. Many of them don’t want people to know what they used to do. Which is actually a pity, because famous people have the influence in some situations, such as this one, and can trigger and encourage other people to change something in their lives, or at take it into consideration. We wanted their authentic stories, but this is for many of them part of the past that is not romantic or “polished” enough to share with others.
The biggest contribution of this campaign was… that our client, Jobs Infostud, had great results with this campaign, meaning a large number of new job applications on their web platform, and from experienced and highly educated applicants, who were inspired and encouraged to find a better, or simply – a new job for themselves.
And it is special because… working together on this, we took the celebrities who participated – Neda Ukraden, Marčelo and Dejan Pantelić – back through the time, to the crucial points in their lives, when they decided to become what they are today. It was truly a special process and we are very grateful for their courage to be a part of this.
When it comes to our project, we are most proud of… the fact that it triggered a debate about this topic. Most liked the approach, but some of course have seen it as disappointing that we live in a country where people often can’t have a good life doing what they’ve been studying for, and are often forced to do everything and anything, or never getting an opportunity to do a job they like. As in many other things, we are quite naive when it comes to this. The struggle for a good job and a career is not that easy anywhere, it requires the courage and knowing what you want, and rare are those who are lucky enough to know that they love what they are studying, who will do the job they’ve been studying for, and make a good living out of it. Imagine suddenly getting a job opportunity, and it turns out to be something you will not be able to imagine your life without, although it has never even crossed your mind before that you could actually do that? That sounds very exciting!
If we were to go from scratch now … who knows what would happen! I don’t like to say ‘we would do everything the same again’. It would be lame if it was so. I believe we would do something completely different, and that we will have the opportunity to show that with such a brave client as Infostud.
Throughout the process, we have learned… a lot about the HR industry and the motives of people applying for a job, whether it is their first job or they want to change the existing one.
What you certainly did not know was that … this campaign could have included: Lepa Brena in the role of a nanny for the little girl Ana Štajdohar, Bajaga selling scarves in front of Sava Center, the football player Šekularac as a meteorologist, or Ivan Ivanović as a driver.
From BalCannes we brought with us… we didn’t bring a lion, but we were in the Top 25. What we did take from there is a lot of great impressions, new experiences, ideas and inspiration.
