GAC — pulling IT talent out of its comfort zone with a guerrilla campaign
For GAC, we tempted out-of-sector talent into IT.
"If you bind people to you with nothing more than a higher salary, you can be sure you're not bringing in people who'll stay. We steer on growth."
– the premise of the campaign concept
GAC is a software company and Microsoft Dynamics consultant in the Brainport region, with ambitious growth plans and, as a result, dozens of open IT vacancies. In an overheated labour market where work and terms are similar everywhere, GAC had to differentiate on the brand.
Schwung developed a complete recruitment campaign: from strategy, EB and EVP to the concept Escape your comfort zone, guerrilla marketing with physical escape rooms, geofencing, a careers website and an app concept. One idea, two audiences, one goal: more candidates, faster.
The right IT specialist isn't always in IT.
GAC had just become part of Broad Horizon and wanted to grow strongly. But the market for IT specialists and consultants is fished out, and on the job boards the competition is cut-throat and the distinctiveness small. Fishing in the same pond yields too little. The real opportunity lies elsewhere: with people who, in terms of skill set and personality, fit perfectly into IT but don't yet work there.
Based on people analytics, we therefore also targeted career switchers from logistics, finance and accountancy, and women in particular. The message to that group is simple: you fit in IT, with us you can grow. At the same time, we profile GAC as a brand and as a good employer, because for the in-sector audience that is precisely what tips the balance to make the move.
After the takeover: Sky High.
When GAC became part of Broad Horizon, we positioned that as a leap forward. In a series of commercials, GAC people literally go Sky High: the first film repositions the brand after the takeover, the others have employees talk about professional growth and work-life balance. The same story as the campaign, now in moving image.
And the jumpers weren't models, but the company's own employees. They literally stepped out of their comfort zone to make the organisation's growth possible. Exactly the campaign's message, lived out by the people who carry the brand.
Stills from the films: the company's own employees, like account manager Sander, tell their story under the banner Growing together.
Escape your comfort zone, enter your grow zone.
Making the move is daunting, especially from a different sector. In the concept we turn that into an opportunity. We build on the growth-zone model (from comfort zone, via learning zone, to growth zone) and on the GAC value Let's grow together. Where the magic happens lies just outside your comfort zone.
Comfort zone
Safe, familiar and in control. But also: standing still. The trigger to get moving.
Grow zone
A place where you flourish: professional growth, vitality and a good work-life balance.
The concept charges itself along two tracks, with its own message and visual language per track. We greet out-of-sector switchers with a wink (Hello stranger, from the logistics sector), and the in-sector market with GAC's brand and culture side.
You fit in IT
For career switchers from logistics, finance and accountancy, and women in particular. The challenge of change as the trigger, backed by people analytics: your skill set and personality fit here.
Grow at a brand that rings true
For IT specialists and consultants we convince with the brand and attractive employership. Work-life balance and personal growth as the reason to step out of the comfort zone.
The concept: the Escape (your job) Room.
To give the kick-off impact and make GAC stand out as a brand, we designed a physical guerrilla action. The idea: a mysterious black escape-room box at busy Brainport locations, challenging passers-by to escape their job in a 5 minutes job break. The heart of the game would be a playful job application: with the right qualities and resourcefulness, you escape into the grow zone.
Here's how the playbook was set up:
Buzz
The black boxes appear before the start, the media get tipped off. Teasing and good for publicity.
Activation
Activate the audience via social, geofencing and posters on location. A call to IT specialists and switchers.
Start
Passers-by take part: five minutes escaping their job during the coffee break.
People analytics
The content of the game is based on the profiles of the consultants and IT specialists we want.
Sharing
Happy faces are photographed and shared on social, with GAC clearly in view.
Referral
Participants stand a chance to win an activity with colleagues, plus a referral reward. The buzz reinforces itself.
We'd carry the escape room's function through into an app: a more serious, but still playful test that, based on people analytics, gives insight into someone's personal growth opportunities. Not an extra hurdle in the application process, but a means to get people who are latently looking to make a move.
All roads lead to the careers website.
The tools work in concert. From the employer brand and the EVP, the campaign concept charges itself, and via a broad media palette it steers the audience to the careers website and there towards a coffee chat. The message and the choice of tools differ per track.
An important channel towards the out-of-sector audience is geofencing. We draw a digital fence (from around 50 metres) around out-of-sector employers, for example in logistics, finance and accountancy, and within that fence we serve mobile adverts and DOOH. The technique works with anonymous mobile IDs and collects no personal data: GDPR-compliant and legally permitted.
Not shouting louder, but choosing smarter.
The strength of this project lies in the choice not to fish in the same overcrowded pond. By choosing out-of-sector talent based on data, and turning the daunting moment of switching into a growth opportunity, GAC created room where the competition didn't see it.
The concept was later scaled up to group communication within Broad Horizon, with GAC as launching partner. One campaign engine, to be coloured in per brand, with the comfort-zone idea and the escape rooms as the recognisable common thread.
Role, client, result.
Client
GAC Business Solutions (Broad Horizon)
Role
Strategy, EB & EVP, campaign concept, guerrilla marketing & escape rooms, geofencing, careers website, app concept, content
Audience
IT specialists & consultants, plus career switchers from logistics, finance and accountancy
Frequently asked questions about the GAC case
What did Schwung do for GAC?
Schwung developed a complete recruitment campaign for GAC: from strategy and sharpening the employer brand (EB) and the EVP to the campaign concept Escape your comfort zone, guerrilla marketing with physical escape rooms, a careers website, geofencing and an app concept. The goal: to increase and speed up the flow of candidates for around 60 IT vacancies.
What was the challenge?
GAC, a software company and Microsoft Dynamics consultant in the Brainport region, needed to find dozens of IT specialists and consultants in an overheated labour market. The work and the terms are similar at many employers, so the difference lies in the brand and the culture. On top of that, GAC had just become part of Broad Horizon, which meant the positioning had to be set out sharply all over again.
What is the 'Escape your comfort zone' concept?
Moving to a new employer, especially from a different sector, is daunting. In the concept we turn that into an opportunity: Escape your comfort zone, enter your grow zone. It ties in with the growth-zone model and with the GAC value Let's grow together. We communicate along two tracks: in-sector (the brand and good employership) and out-of-sector (the challenge to grow), with the message, based on people analytics: you fit in IT.
What is the Escape (your job) Room?
The campaign's guerrilla concept: a mysterious black escape-room box, designed for busy Brainport locations, that challenges passers-by to escape their job in a 5 minutes job break. The heart of it would be a playful job application: with the right qualities and resourcefulness, you escape into the grow zone. Photos and clips would go out into the world via social media, with a referral reward, so the buzz reinforces itself.
What is geofencing and is it GDPR-compliant?
With geofencing we draw a digital fence (from around 50 metres) around a location, for example the office of an out-of-sector employer. Within that fence we pick up anonymous mobile IDs and serve mobile adverts or DOOH across thousands of apps and sites. No personal data is collected, and serving happens via channels for which the user has given consent for geolocation. That makes the technique GDPR-compliant and legally permitted.
Who was the campaign aimed at?
At two groups at once. In-sector: IT specialists and consultants we convince with the brand and attractive employership. And out-of-sector: career switchers from logistics, finance and accountancy, and women in particular, who fit perfectly into IT based on skill set and personality.
Where did the campaign run?
The plan focused regionally on Brainport Eindhoven. The escape rooms were intended for hotspots such as Strijp-S, Stratumseind and Flight Forum, and near major employers like ASML; geofencing would reach out-of-sector companies in logistics, finance and accountancy. All roads had to lead to the careers website and ultimately to a coffee chat.
Are you still fishing in an empty pond?
Just like with GAC, we're happy to look at where the talent actually is, and how to pull it out of its comfort zone.