We've Heard of Creative Want Ads, But This Takes the Cake
Help-wanted ads have long been the mainstay of both HR professionals and newspapers--a significant source of newspapers' income comes from those little teeny classified ads. Business columnists have, from time to time, placed so much importance on these little guys that some are saying that the migration of help-wanted ads to the web may be one of the most significant threats to newspapers, as we know them. If that's true, then newspapers are in more trouble than we thought...
Ikea, manufacturers and resellers of quality, low-cost furniture and assorted home doodads, has stores in major cities in the United States. The company, however, is based in Malmo, Sweden. The super-tight nature of the employment market isn't limited just to American shores, as we all know, and apparently the market is just as tight, if not tighter, in Malmo. How, then, does a retailing giant find copywriters and project managers, two relatively skilled and specific needs?
Why, by writing want ads on bathroom walls, of course. You read right: Ikea HR personnel hand-scrawled help-wanted ads in restrooms! The results were just as surprising--after only four days, they'd received 60 applications, which is five times the normal return rate on newspaper help-wanted advertising for Ikea. And those results came at one-tenth the cost of traditional advertising.
What's the lesson to be learned here? Should we all rush right out and invest in some permanent markers? Perhaps not--we here at WSI don't advocate vandalism, as a rule--but there is something important at play here. The more creative you can be not only in ad content but in ad placement, the more likely you are to find good people. And, the more creative you can be once you get them, the more likely you'll be to keep them.
Good luck and happy hunting . . . wherever you choose to look.
