Events, Seasonal and Short-Term

Situation Analysis: Workopolis, the number one job site in Canada, trailed in Quebec where Emploi Quebec was recognized as the best site to assist in job search, with further competition coming from Jobboom, Kijijji and JobIllico. Since 2010, awareness of the Workopolis brand had remained fairly flat in Quebec, holding at 29% in the bilingual Montreal market where marketing efforts have been concentrated. This low level of awareness had led to a decline in traffic from the beginning of 2013. The Workopolis brand was reputable and trusted in Quebec but seekers did not feel Workopolis had the Quebec-based jobs they sought. With a very limited media budget the challenge was to drive site traffic while changing the perception that Workopolis did not offer local, Quebec-based jobs.

Insight & Strategy: To show job hunters just how relevant Workopolis was, the strategy was to respond to newsworthy events, pop culture and seasonal topics, relating them back to the advantage of using Workopolis. The Quebec Municipal elections held on Nov. 3, 2013 would attract high levels of media coverage and awareness, so they would be an ideal vehicle for a stunt to make a statement that Workopolis was the right job site for Quebec job seekers.

Execution: In the early dawn hours of Nov. 4, after municipal election night, a small agency team roamed the streets of Montreal and placed stickers, guerrilla style, over defeated candidates’ election posters, welcoming these candidates to Workopolis, demonstrating that for people suddenly out of a job, Workopolis was there to help. No media budget was allocated other than a one-page ad in La Presse the same day, the stunt relying on social media to spread the word via Workopolis Twitter and Facebook feeds beginning that morning.

Results: In the initial 48 hours, the Workopolis “Morning After” stunt reached over 2.2 million people through traditional media and more than 200,000 people through social media. In the days following the stunt, Workopolis site traffic peaked with a 30% increase year over year, mostly from new users. Through November and December 2013, overall Workopolis website traffic in Quebec increased by 20% year over year.

Cause & Effect: Throughout the year, newspaper ads had been published on a weekly, sometimes twice weekly basis with little effect on traffic, indicating that the newspaper ad alone placed on Nov. 4 would not have significantly increased traffic. With no other media or sales initiatives in place at the time in Quebec, the stunt is most likely what drove traffic to the website for the two months immediately following.

Credits:
Client: Workopolis
Marketing director: Nicole Knowlton
French content editor, marketing: Mathieu Rainville
Senior content editor & PR, marketing: Peter Harris
Agency: Tank
Group account director: Catherine Sicotte
Account manager: Kim Methot
VP/CCO: Benoit Pilon
ECD: Alex Gadoua
CD: Jean-François Houle
CW: Christian O’Brian
AD: Olivier Ventura
Producer: Marie-Pierre Lemieux