Case Studies
L-3 STRATIS
Recruiting the elite
Situation
Jump to design samplesL-3 STRATIS delivers high quality intelligence and enterprise IT solutions to government customers around the world. It is the IT center of excellence for L-3 Communications, which has 63,000 employees worldwide and more than $15 billion in annual revenue.
The rapidly expanding division needed to quickly fill hundreds of positions for a variety of highly specialized work in the D.C. area. Due to the extremely competitive nature of the marketplace, however, STRATIS was constantly competing with other top contractors for the same highly qualified employees – those with high-level security clearances and expertise in cyber, IT and intelligence.
To reach these prospects, STRATIS selected Boscobel to develop a targeted recruitment advertising campaign and a series of employee appreciation events. Once the overall strategies and tactics were approved, Boscobel set out to negotiate and secure all media; develop all materials; and support STRATIS’ internal referral program with a series of employee engagement events.
The biggest challenge: get the program up and running in a matter of days.
Objectives
- Develop a recruitment advertising campaign with immediate impact and high visibility.
- Distinguish STRATIS from competitors and position the company as an employer of choice.
- Reach the target audience through multiple touches in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area.
- Show a tangible increase in traffic to the STRATIS careers webpage.
Tactics
The campaign began with a three-month pilot in print and online media. Boscobel leveraged a premium sponsorship position in Washington Technology’s highly visible Top 100 issue to launch the new campaign. In a quickly convened kickoff meeting, STRATIS and Boscobel determined that the program should have a sleek, eye-catching look that appealed to high-level employees, as well as copy that addressed the unique benefits of a career at STRATIS. Boscobel suggested the headline, “The Work You Love. The Challenges You Crave. The Company That Makes a Difference.”
Boscobel then developed a plan that reached out to STRATIS’ highly specialized audience. The team put together an integrated strategy including online, social media and radio ads, as well as direct mailings to STRATIS employees.
As a result of the successful pilot, Boscobel was asked to expand the recruitment campaign significantly – this time with an even more ambitious recruitment goal and an even shorter timeframe. The team jumped into planning and executing a media blitz that added new online, social media, radio, television and outdoor media, as well as a series of employee appreciation events to encourage referrals.
Starting with a 12-month radio buy on WTOP, D.C.’s most popular news and traffic station, Boscobel added flights on other popular sports and music radio stations to the mix, as well as flights on local television stations during news and high-profile sporting events. The TV spots used the messaging from the radio ads and carefully curated images to emphasize the unique and challenging aspects of working at L-3 STRATIS.
The buy also targeted other media with high impression rates in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, including Metro buses and rail cars, and online ads on WashingtonPost.com. Ads in national media like Facebook, LinkedIn, and popular sports, news and entertainment websites were geo- and behaviorally targeted as well, to connect with passive job seekers.
In addition to the external recruitment efforts, Boscobel organized a series of events to encourage the company’s employees to utilize its referral program. The events, held outdoors at one STRATIS office location, fostered goodwill and gave on-site recruiters a chance to connect face-to-face with employees. Boscobel hired vendors, produced logoed specialties, arranged menus, and worked onsite to ensure the ongoing success of the events.
Results
The campaign blanketed the D.C. area with STRATIS’ recruitment message, making a huge impact in an extremely short time period. The campaign generated approximately 500 million impressions in total, and Boscobel supplemented the paid impressions with nearly $200,000 in bonus placements across multiple media platforms.
The ads and messaging were overwhelmingly well received, and STRATIS executives as far as New York shared positive feedback from numerous employees, customers and colleagues. Over the course of the campaign, the STRATIS careers webpage received significantly increased traffic, and, most importantly, STRATIS saw a 50 percent increase in applicants. In addition, Boscobel’s client, the vice president of employee communication, won the STRATIS Award for Excellence for her role in overseeing and executing the campaign.
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