At first glance, it is hard to tell what message Hot Tomali’s new campaign for Vancouver’s Open Learning Agency is trying to get across. The outdoor prints ads for the government-funded education program centre simply look like any typical office scene. This, however, is exactly what Thomas Stringham, CD for Vancouver-based Hot Tomali Communications, was hoping to achieve with his second campaign for Open Learning, which targets people with disabilities looking for employment opportunities.
The ads debuted in and around Vancouver during July and feature images like a seeing-eye cane sitting in an umbrella stand and a wheelchair perfectly blended into its surroundings at a boardroom table.
‘By using environmental shots and not actually showing the people in the situations, our target audience can subliminally project themselves into the work environment,’ explains Stringham. ‘We wanted it to seem like we’re focusing more on a recruitment type of ad.’
The disability icons in the ads are secondary, he says, and the real goal is to convince the target that they can get the job they want with Open Learning services. ‘The whole idea of using an everyday work environment really made it feel more believable.’
Stringham notes that the creative team also had another audience in mind. ‘We want to help change the perception of people with disabilities in the workplace and let employers know that the disabilities themselves are really secondary.’
In order to ensure the campaign did not come off as condescending or boring, Hot Tomali test marketed the ads to students at Open Learning. ‘The reaction was really positive,’ says Stringham. ‘[People don’t] want to focus so much on what they can’t do, as what they can do.’
Hot Tomali’s previous campaign for the Open Learning Agency took a similar approach, featuring a security ID card, desk name plate and a payroll cheque that read ‘your name here.’
Client: Open Learning Agency (Turning Point & Opportunities Fund) Vancouver
Agency: Hot Tomali Communications, Vancouver
Creative Director/Art Director: Thomas Stringham
Copywriter: Sebastien Wilcox
Photographer: Anthony Redpath
Account Director: Alison Stringham
