Hertz needed to hire, but their target audience—college students, would not bite.  The problem?  A public perception that Hertz offered a dull and uneventful work experience and environment.  College students thought a job at Hertz would be limiting and even feared feeling ‘stuck’.  Current recruitment marketing efforts latched on to existing corporate brand images and messages of old-fashioned ‘family vacations’—appropriate for luring customers but confusing to Hertz’s young candidates who were looking to work somewhere more exciting.  Unfortunately these materials conveyed the Hertz Employer Brand as a workplace that did not appeal to potential candidates. College students were not interested.  Further complicating matters, recruitment communications were mandated to follow corporate marketing graphic directions—an image direction of family sedans in mostly tropical airport settings. Not very relevant to the target audience.  Editorial approaches, oddly enough, were dictated to focus on specific job requirements even though the materials would be broadcast to a diverse audience covering a wide array of possible positions and geographic locations.

Brand Strategy:

When Hertz came to Bayard for new college materials, we saw an opportunity to finally address the public misconception. We presented a convincing argument for a need for change. We showed what competitors were doing. We analyzed market trends, and to make our case solid, we developed a whole new strategy.  At the core, an emphasis on communicating the Hertz Employer brand as a “culture,” not just “a job.” We articulated the personality of the company through highly-spirited visual language. In short, we created a completely reinvigorated college candidate experience. We did not show cars. We did not show people doing their jobs. Or family’s on vacation. Rather, through imagery we conveyed the needed energy and drama. We developed catchy one-line positioning statements that we treated as headlines. We streamlined text copy and introduced a modern layout grid that would connect with younger audiences.

Though Hertz was looking for just one trade booth display, for more impact, we convinced them to build three panels to mix and match (from high-energy to medium to subtle) depending on the audience in attendance.  The result was a tremendous increase in campus applications. The foot traffic to the booths improved tremendously.  The campus effort was so successful, we were asked to expand the campaign by creating a wide range of collateral materials, such as a mini CD-ROM brochure with packaging that reflected the same spirit and energy. We also developed brochures and ad campaigns that stemmed from this new strategic approach. The results of the overhaul were in, Hertz reported that Bayard’s campus campaign was one of the most successful recruitment marketing programs they had done to date. We continually re-print the brochures, the CD-ROMs and other materials.