Background

In 2008, MWV sought a communications partner to work in conjunction with its brand agency, Interbrand, to rejuvenate its recruitment program. The challenge was to attract top talent to a traditionally "uncool" industry. MWV reviewed six agencies and awarded West Cary Group (WCG) the assignment.

The Approach

West Cary Group leveraged its proprietary engagement model―Define, Discover, Develop, Assess―to lay out a progressive marketing communications strategy that would span traditional media with more modern communications channels, such as rich-media-infused Web redesign, technological widgets and social media. In the Definition stage, key outcomes as desired by the MWV HR Team, as well as its recruitment target profile―students and experienced engineers―were identified. Requests included:

• Reinforce the MWV brand

• Express MWV’s personality and culture as collaborative, can-do, reliable and connected

• Assert that MWV values diversity

WCG also defined the feedback frequency, billing, and other operational aspects that would be in sync with their practices.

In the Discovery phase, WCG conducted primary research with the recruitment team, target recruits and senior MWV leaders to narrow down what the client needed and prospect recruits cared about. It then crafted value proposition statements for each target to identify the promise MWV held out for them and how the company would fulfill on it.

In the Development phase, WCG first designed an “experience map” for MWV that detailed the experience recruitment prospects should experience from initial contact through hire. Then WCG designed a channel strategy that assessed the attributes of each available channel and leveraged each to communicate to the two target groups. A product was delivered that included:

• A new one-stop Web site, backed by search engine optimization, to be the landing point for inquiries as well as MWV recruitment advertising

• Two print advertising campaigns for experienced hires—both engineering and general

• Brochures and reference books that showcased MWV’s wide geographic footprint

• A physical exhibit for MWV recruiters to use on college campuses to recruit top-notch talent

The Impact

In the Assessment phase, WCG monitored the results by managing MWV’s analytics engine for itd Web site and tracking the company’s site traffic and recruitment traffic for the first time. The campaign increased the resume submissions of qualified candidates by 25%. The client was pleased that the communications solution successfully incorporated the brand standards Interbrand had developed, and afterward expanded its engagement with WCG to its other business units.

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