Employment Hero is hoping to get business owners singing a different tune about recruitment, with a new campaign that turns an 80s power ballad into a surprisingly dramatic pitch for finding staff.
The AI-powered employment platform has enlisted Richard Marx’s 1989 hit Right Here Waiting for its latest campaign, aptly titled ‘Your Next Hire is Right Here Waiting’, taking aim at the traditional ‘post-and-pray’ approach to recruitment.
Running across Australia, New Zealand and Canada, the campaign features overwhelmed small business owners grappling with the usual hiring headaches, before prospective employees appear in full music-video glory.
Think windswept hair, intense eye contact and passionate lip-syncing, all delivered with the kind of emotional conviction usually reserved for a particularly devastating breakup.
But there’s a twist. The dramatic gusts of wind blowing through the candidates’ hair aren’t quite the work of a Hollywood production team. They’re being generated by Employment Hero’s purple rabbit mascot, Big Ears, wielding a humble leaf blower just out of shot.
The campaign’s message is that businesses don’t necessarily need to throw another job listing into the internet abyss and hope for the best. Employment Hero says its platform already has a built-in talent ecosystem of verified job seekers, allowing employers to find and shortlist candidates without first posting an ad.
More than 350,000 businesses use the platform to manage HR, payroll, benefits and hiring.
“Finding the right people is consistently the hardest part of running a business, and owners already wear every hat without having to lose weeks navigating cumbersome job boards,” said Tasman Page, global marketing director at Employment Hero.
“We wanted to cut through category fatigue with an honest, playful reality check.”
Page said the Richard Marx track provided the perfect emotional and comedic hook to communicate the platform’s point of difference.
The campaign was created by Employment Hero’s in-house creative team, The Hero Collective, with production by Crater Global and Sure Studios, directed by Harrison Woodhead.
The work is rolling out across connected TV, BVOD, large-format out-of-home, commercial and sports radio, digital audio and paid social, running through to mid-December.
Credits:
Employment Hero Global Marketing Director: Tasman Page
Global Head of Brand: Tenielle Stoltenkamp
Global Brand Lead: Sharon Ormes
Global Head of Creative & Design: Domenico De Rosa
Senior Creative: Andrew Cameron
Senior Creative: Angela Castles
Brand Design Lead: Hannah O’Mahony
Senior Creative Services Manager: Stephanie Balchin
Senior Designer: Lars Wannop
Senior Designer: Juliana Bridi
Senior Designer: Jessica Sneddon
Senior Art Director: Bernard Benny
Motion & Video Lead: Gerad Gray
Motion Designer: Angie Lozarus
Motion Designer: Dominique Nava
Senior Social Media Manager: Lara Munn
Global Social Media Manager: Samuel Sinnott
Social Video Creator: Sophie Chandler
Brand Lead, ANZ: Mariah Klay Growth Marketing Lead (APAC): Sisi Chen Brand Media Activation Manager: Ben Malfatti
GM, Talent: David Holland
Global Head of Marketing (Talent Marketplace): Sandra Salama
Global Head of Public Affairs and Communications: Lisa Dewar
Communications Manager, ANZ: Jessica Grattan
Production: Crater Global + Sure Studios
Director: Harrison Woodhead
Executive Producer: Steven Farrer
Partner & Head of Creative: Justin Solomons
Producer: Aborah Buick
DOP: Don Buppapirak ACS
1st AD: Stuart Beedie
1st AC: Sandy McLennan
Art / Wardrobe: Suzanne King
Sound Design: Smith & Western Sound
Colour Grade: Marcus Friedlander
Stills / Photography: Benito Martin
