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In January 2007, the company launched an
aggressive advertising campaign aimed at enhancing its brand
equity in the eyes of job seekers as well as employers. While
other recruitment portals targeted disgruntled employees on the
look-out for better opportunities,ClickJobs targeted the
complacent employee with its ad campaign. "We have taken a
disruptive approach from the clutter of other Job Ads in the
market, we have used a very positive tone. There [is a plethora]
of opportunities for a job seeker today. |
The ad focuses on an inactive jobseeker who could
benefit from the opportunities available. It is a differentiated
campaign with positive tone,"9 said Michael M. Bala (Bala), Business
Head, ClickJobs.
The ad campaign, created by Network Advertising, featured a person who
was referred to as 'Happy Kumar' – an employee who thought that he had
made it in life as he was happy with his salary, work, and his boss.
The ad urged the audience not to be like Happy Kumar who, in his state
of contentment, remained unaware of the abundant opportunities that the
job market had to offer. The ad had peppy background music created by
Amar Mangrulkar of Footcandles Film Pvt. Ltd.10 that blended very well
with the overall theme of the campaign.
"The pace, lyrics, and vocals perfectly capture everything that's going
through Happy Kumar's mind. And the melody sticks in your head, just the
way Happy Kumar sticks to his job," said Pearl S Krishnan and Rajen
Joshi, creative directors, Network Advertising.11
Industry watchers noted that the ad was quite unlike those of other job
portals as it creatively tried to suggest that employees no longer had
to remain in an underpaid job, or in the wrong job (with a poor job
fit), or put up with a bad boss.
The marketing communication of its rivals made use of negative appeals –
for instance, the ad campaign of TimesJobs showed how some organizations
bestowed praise for good performance but continued to underpay the
employees, with the message 'salary makes you feel small, log on to Timesjobs…'; Monster India's ad campaign urged employees to check out
its job listing for a job with a better fit and showed visuals of a
cricketer washing clothes with his bat, a chef working as a barber, etc.
The message was, 'Caught in a wrong job – the perfect job is just a
click away'; and Naukri's ad campaign showed an employee getting even
with his boss Hari Sadu (a fictional character representing the ultimate
bad boss) and the message 'Guess who's just heard from us?'.
Some industry watchers felt that ClickJobs was able to differentiate
itself from its competitors by going against the grain. Its
thought-provoking ad struck a chord with many employees who were content
with a mediocre job and were oblivious of the millions of opportunities
around them.
The ad was beautifully executed, they felt.12 But there were others who
felt that despite its beautiful execution, the ad didn't make much sense
as an ideal job was one which a person loved and was satisfied with.
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9] "ClickJobs.com Launches 'Happy Kumar' Ad Campaign –
Allocating Media Budget of 7 Crores," www.pressbox.co.uk, January 19, 2007.
10] Footcandles Film Pvt. Ltd. is a production house with
offices in Mumbai and Chennai.
11] "ClickJobs.com's Happy Kumar Bags ABBY Award,"
www.moneycontrol.com, March 16, 2007.
12] "How to Increase Attrition?" www.bizdewz.com, February 23, 2007. |
