Campaign Spotlight: Online Recruitment Campaign Emphasizes Family Atmosphere

Marketers at Pitt County (NC) Memorial Hospital (PCMH) quickly realized that the organization's consumer marketing branding campaign did not resonate with the employees they were trying to recruit. Focus groups told them that the consumer campaign's tagline, "a hospital system that your entire family will use," didn't sell them on working at PCMH.

"It needed to be more specific about why an employee would choose PCMH for a career," marketers wrote on the campaign's HealthLeaders Media Marketing Awards entry form. "The response was 'put the offer up front' and tell me why. This presented a unique challenge into how to make the connection with the target audience while falling in brand with what marketing was promoting."

Marketers decided to transition the consumer campaign message to a more recruitment-oriented one by stressing that PCMH employees reap the benefits of having an extended work family. The campaign, which won a platinum award in the new media category, consisted of a careers site, alumni site, transfer site, and an enhanced search engine marketing initiative, along with traditional print, direct mail, and outdoor elements.

"This is a comprehensive careers site with auxiliary support elements that truly delivers on the objectives established," wrote one judge. "It is reflective not only in the recruitment numbers and retention attribution, but in the representation of the brand and philosophy of the organization."

The campaign was a success, generating more than 10,000 applications, 16 million impressions, and 28,000 click generations. PCMH marketers said the campaign hit home with potential employees because the campaign emphasized the importance of relationships.

"The look and feel of the campaign had to be very personal and have the appeal to being part of a bigger family," they wrote. "The use of old style Polaroid photos captures that impression."

The campaign stood out for Marketing Awards judges because it was consistent in print and online—something that not every hospital succeeds at.

"This has a clean design, good stories, and easy tools for job searching," wrote another judge. "The look and feel remains consistent offline and online creating a continuity that gives the user a sense of familiarity."