For more than 15 years BerkeleyScott were a force to be reckoned with for any budding Jamie Oliver, or wannabe Hilton. They were possibly the first company to ignore the tough sales exterior of recruitment, and emulated their clients, who make sales feel like servicing.
Background
In June 2008, theagency was appointed to the BerkeleyScott roster, following a takeover by the Kellan Group. The team behind Office Angels, Hot Group, (which had sold to Trinity Mirror for £50m) and Adecco had big plans for the brand. The company had lost focus, steered away from its premium recruitment routes and gone mainstream, supplying temporary staff into low paid bar jobs with low margins and high volumes. The objective was simple, to make BerkeleyScott great again, by bringing them up to date with their customers and putting them at the forefront of innovation as well as service.
Challenge
With the economic crisis looming, a shortfall of jobs in the hotel and catering sector surprisingly wasn’t the problem. Competition is much higher today, as larger organisations like Reed have entered all the niche markets with a ready-made retail footprint. The difficulty lay in convincing people to push ahead with their next career move, perhaps leaving behind a secure job with a history, and plunge themselves into a new challenge.
From this point it became clear that defining the BerkeleyScott brand lay first with their audience, not just clients, but candidates as well, and going back to their roots was the key to engagement. And no marketing budget was going to be released without a tight commercial objective and measurable return.
Strategy
The basis of any co-ordinated brand -response campaign is to start with the brand matrix. Through comprehensive research groups with customers and employees, theagency was able to define their brand value, Expert, Dependable and Premium. We developed brand differentiators from their competition, their propositions and ultimately the BerkeleyScott brand promise “The industry experience to help build your career”.
With the brand matrix in place, a benchmark for all future work and communications, and a comprehensive programme for raising internal awareness with management and staff, BerkeleyScott were ready to go back to market.
Implementation
The first task for theagency was a literal evolution of the brand identity, and up-to-date refresh, holding on to past successes and glory, but more resonant with today’s stylistic corporate identities.
Rolling this out to the organisation was only done in situ, as every communication had to mean something commercial. Press campaigns harked back to the BerkeleyScott difference, “Dine with the Devil”, the devil being in the detail. A modern company, focussed on service, driven by innovation, and run specifically by industry experienced teams.
Banner advertising, moving away from press and all offline media techniques, allows BerkeleyScott to do three things. Reduce their reliance on industry sector job boards, build their brand directly with the target candidates and future clients, and specifically target individuals by utilising techniques such as corporate IP targeting, keyword targeting and behavioural targeting through social networks.
Giving a recruitment company this kind of reach cuts out waste, keeps the campaigns focussed and relevant with the right people and ultimately lowers the cost per acquisition.
Results
A brand evolution rather than a revolution, harnessing the elements that made BerkeleyScott famous in their heyday resonated with their current customers as well as their staff. Interestingly, what made them different 16 years ago still makes them different today, we just needed to remind people.
A lower reliance and spend on job boards is allowing direct communications with potential candidates and clients, allowing the BerkeleyScott brand to live independently. The new search optimised website, with a strategy that combats their competitors directly.
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