Tag: employer branding

Royal Dutch Army: #Question Recruitment

The Royal Dutch Army has only a few specific job openings this year, and the challenge is to get qualified candidates to the website.

Turning Twitter questions into a recruitment filter

The “Qualified / Not Qualified” theme is already well known in the Netherlands. Here it is reused as a live judging mechanic on Twitter. People post questions using a designated hashtag, and the campaign replies by rating the answers as qualified or not qualified, then routes the right people toward the Army’s recruitment site.

In specialist public-sector recruitment, the hardest part is earning the first click from people who already have a stable job.

Why it lands: it hijacks attention that already exists

The smartest part is distribution. Instead of building a follower base from scratch, the concept leans on the fact that many Twitter users already track question hashtags. That means the campaign can show up in an existing stream of intent, where people are already in “answer mode”.

Extractable takeaway: If you have limited openings and strict qualification needs, design a public screening mechanic that lives inside an existing behavior. You get fewer clicks, but the clicks you get are self-selected and easier to convert.

What the brand is really doing

This is not about being funny on social. It is about pre-qualification in public. The Qualified or Not Qualified response turns the brand into an assessor, and the assessor role is exactly what a military employer needs to signal when roles are scarce and standards are real.

What to steal for your own hard-to-hire role

  • Recruit inside an existing intent stream: go where people are already asking, answering, or problem-solving.
  • Make the filter visible: a simple rating frame can do more than a long job spec.
  • Keep the response format consistent: repetition builds recognition fast.
  • Route immediately: when someone looks qualified, give a clear next step to the right page.
  • Stay disciplined on tone: the format can be playful, but the standards must feel credible.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the #Question idea in one sentence?

It uses a Twitter question hashtag to attract answers, then labels them “Qualified” or “Not Qualified” to steer the right candidates to recruitment information.

Why does a hashtag mechanic help without a follower base?

Because people discover the content through the hashtag stream itself, not through the campaign account’s followers.

What makes this a recruitment campaign rather than brand social posting?

The public rating acts as a screening signal, and the interaction is designed to drive candidates toward a concrete next step on the recruitment site.

What is the key risk with public “qualified” judgments?

Misclassification or tone-deafness. If the criteria feel arbitrary or disrespectful, the campaign can discourage exactly the audience it wants.

What should you measure if you copy this approach?

Click-through to role pages, application starts, application completion rate, and the quality of applicants compared to baseline channels.

Jung von Matt: Trojan Art Director

Jung von Matt is looking for talent again, this time art directors. Staying true to its creative reputation, the agency devised a cheeky way of recruiting from the same places competitors recruit from.

This time the “Trojan horses” were 15 well-known photographers whose work is regularly shown to top creative agencies in Germany. Jung von Matt’s job message was integrated into the photographers’ portfolios. An inscription on a bus. A graffiti on a wall. A stitchery on a pullover. The job ad appears inside the work, right where art directors and creatives are already paying attention.

Recruitment as a stealth placement inside creative culture

The mechanism is elegant. Instead of pushing job ads outward, the agency inserts them into a trusted distribution channel. Photographers’ portfolios are already a legitimate reason to visit creative departments. By embedding the hiring message into those images, the job ad arrives with credibility and surprise built in.

In agency recruitment, the most effective messages often travel through peer-to-peer channels where creative people already look for inspiration.

Why it lands

It respects the audience. Art directors do not want HR language. They want ideas. The recruitment message shows up as an idea. The “spot it” moment also creates a small status game. If you notice it, you feel like an insider, which is exactly the emotion you want associated with joining a top creative shop.

Extractable takeaway: If you recruit creative talent, do not only describe the culture. Deliver the culture as a recruiting experience. The medium should prove the message.

What Jung von Matt is really doing here

Beyond hiring, this is reputation maintenance. The campaign reinforces the belief that the agency thinks differently, even about recruitment. It also targets a very specific context. The moment when competitors are reviewing portfolios and looking for talent. That is when the message is most likely to be acted on.

What to steal

  • Place your message in a trusted channel. Borrow the legitimacy of a format your audience already values.
  • Integrate, do not interrupt. Embedding the ad inside the creative work makes it feel like discovery, not spam.
  • Make the message audience-native. Speak in the language of the craft, not corporate templates.
  • Target the decision moment. Put the offer where hiring intent already exists.
  • Keep it simple. One clear role, one clear next step, no clutter.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the “Trojan Art Director” idea in one sentence?

It is a recruitment tactic where Jung von Matt embeds job messages inside photographers’ portfolio images that are regularly shown to top agencies, reaching art directors in-context.

Why are photographers’ portfolios a powerful distribution channel?

Because they are already viewed by creative departments and talent decision-makers. The audience is qualified and attention is high.

What makes this feel credible rather than gimmicky?

The message is integrated into real creative work and appears in a context where creativity is the currency. That makes the format match the audience expectation.

What is the main risk with stealth recruiting?

It can be perceived as hostile or disrespectful by peers if the tone is too aggressive. The balance is “cheeky” rather than “petty.”

How do you measure success for a recruitment stunt like this?

Qualified applications for the specific role, referral volume from the creative community, and whether employer brand perception improves among the target talent pool.

Draftfcb: In Your Face Recruitment Hack

Draftfcb Germany is the latest ad agency to join the trend of tactically using social media for recruitment. In this case, they use Facebook’s redesigned profile layout to spread their hiring needs to a highly targeted advertising audience.

Recruitment message, delivered as a profile takeover

The mechanism is a simple interface hijack. Instead of posting a job ad and hoping people click, the recruitment message is built into the profile itself, so anyone landing on it experiences the “In Your Face” moment immediately. It is native to the platform, and it travels through the same social graph pathways as any other profile view.

In competitive hiring markets, social recruiting works best when the message shows up inside the places people already browse, rather than asking them to switch into “job search mode.”

Why it lands

This is not a deep story. It is a sharp pattern interrupt. The profile becomes the ad unit, the ad unit becomes a talking point, and the talking point becomes a referral engine as people share it with the exact peers who might fit.

Extractable takeaway: If you want a recruitment message to spread inside a community, put it where the community already looks, and make the first two seconds instantly legible without requiring a click.

What to steal

  • Use the platform’s default surfaces. If the profile is the most-viewed asset, make that the canvas.
  • Design for “seen in passing.” The message should register at scroll speed.
  • Make it referable. The best recruitment creative gives insiders something easy to forward to insiders.
  • Keep it role-specific. If you want a “select advertising audience,” avoid generic “we’re hiring” language.
  • Respect the line. If the takeover feels spammy or deceptive, it damages employer brand more than it helps.

A few fast answers before you act

What is “In Your Face” in one sentence?

It is a Draftfcb Germany recruitment idea that turns Facebook’s profile layout into a visual hiring message that spreads through normal profile views and shares.

Why use a profile takeover instead of a standard job post?

Because it removes friction and increases certainty. The viewer immediately understands the intent without leaving the platform or clicking through.

What makes this tactic “targeted”?

It travels through an industry social graph. The people most likely to see it are connected to the agency, its staff, or the wider creative community.

What is the biggest risk with this approach?

Novelty decay. Once the trick is familiar, it stops being a conversation piece, so the idea needs either a short run or variations.

What should you measure if you do something similar?

Qualified inbound candidates, referral volume from employees and peers, share rate inside relevant networks, and sentiment about the employer brand.