Yodel and SMRS shortlisted for Best Print Advertisement and Best Integrated Campaign at RAD Awards
Independent parcel carrier Yodel and advertising agency SMRS have been shortlisted for two of the 2016 RAD Awards, which honour outstanding advertising campaigns in recruitment communications.
Yodel turned to advertising agency, SMRS to spearhead its recruitment campaign, which peaks in the run up to Christmas when it takes on thousands of drivers and couriers across the UK.
The initial challenge was to make a big impact on a national scale, and a topical idea for print was hatched around the news that Chris Evans, had been appointed the new face of BBC’s ‘Top Gear’, and was looking for new driving fanatics to join him on the TV show.
Topicality of the story meant things had to move quickly from concept to approval stage for this one-off ad which appeared prominently in The Sun newspaper.
The ad led to a 42 per cent increase of daily visits to Yodel’s website specifically seeking career information and 20 per cent more new users than the previous week. Most importantly, Yodel received an influx of applications and found the drivers it was looking for. The result has won them a place on the shortlist for Best Print Advertisement.
Yodel also turned to SMRS for its overall campaign for the 2015 Christmas peak period aimed at attracting 5,000 – 6,000 candidates for delivery roles during Black Friday and the festive season. Intensive research ensured a clear understanding of personality types and lifestyle habits of Yodel’s target audiences, forming the basis of two bespoke campaigns. One had a minimalist approach aimed at service centre based owner drivers using the words ‘Drive. Greet. Smile. Repeat.’ The other called The Happiness Project was geared towards finding new couriers who are based from home and deliver in their own neighbourhood and focussed on service and the difference that a good delivery can make to customers’ lives. Research clearly defined two distinct audiences and meant the two campaigns were specifically targeted for best effect across online channels, print and broadcast.
The final of the RAD Awards takes place on January 28th 2016 at the Grosvenor House, London.
Visit: http://www.radawards.com/radawards2016/awardsnomineeshortlist/shortlist-2016