BECO. Invites Businesses to ‘Steal Our Staff’ with Help from TBWA\London
BECO. – the social enterprise that makes environmentally-friendly toiletries with an 80% visually impaired, disabled or disadvantaged workforce – is, with help from TBWA\London, inviting British businesses to steal its staff in order to raise awareness of the ‘Disability Employment Gap’ and disrupt employers’ outdated attitudes towards people with disabilities.
The integrated campaign begins on 3 September 2019 with a packaging takeover, which sees Boots, Sainsburys and Waitrose stock BECO. soap products that incorporate staff CVs on their labels. The packaging takeover will be supported by press executions comprising an open letter that challenges employers to take a stand when it comes to hiring people with disabilities, as well as OOH executions that amplify the #StealOurStaff message. In a twist on the traditional recruitment ad, the creative highlights BECO.’s talent alongside an invitation for these employees to be headhunted by other businesses.
Further amplification comes through a series of films that riff off a TV’s audio description (AD) function. So, for example, a scene of a blind man with his dog is dominated by an AD voice-over saying: “A man with a guide dog stands on the factory floor, looking sad”; to which the blind man responds: “What d’ya mean sad? Not as sad as the 1.1 million disabled people struggling to find work, voice man.”
Each film features ‘authentic casting’ by starring visually impaired, disabled or disadvantaged BECO. employees. The films, which are being supported by Channel 4 – a broadcaster famed for championing disability rights – will also run across social channels.
Highly-targeted proximity OOH ads will be situated near high-profile businesses with bespoke posters that feature CVs of the BECO. team members with the most appropriate skills for the targeted business.
Influential media figureheads, CEOs and Heads of HR will also be sent personalised boxes of BECO. products incorporating the most relevant staff CVs. They will be encouraged share their boxes across social channels using the hashtag #StealOurStaff. Similarly, individual employers will be sent targeted tweets regarding well-suited candidates via the campaign’s social war room.
Throughout the campaign, BECO.’s website will double as a portal that makes it even easier for other employers to steal BECO.’s staff. The website will feature passionately crafted CVs of all participating BECO. employees, alongside useful information for employers interested in hiring people with disabilities. TBWA\London worked closely with multiple partners – Scope, The Valuable 500, Open Inclusion and Virgin Media – to ensure web visitors receive expert advice on the process of hiring disabled staff.
All elements of the integrated campaign – from strategy to design, creative development, social and influencer approach – were created in-house by TBWA\London.
BECO.’s founder, Camilla Marcus-Dew, said: “We shouldn’t be the only business that gives jobs to people with disabilities. That’s why we’re on a mission to promote members of our amazing team to other employers in the hope that our talent will find new jobs and make way for BECO.’s next generation of workers with disabilities.”
TBWA\London’s CEO, Sara Tate, added: “Our debut BECO. campaign was all about introducing the brand and its values to the world. But this second campaign give us a chance to get even more creative. #StealOurStaff is a highly original twist on the staid old recruitment ad. More importantly, though, it’s going to provoke a much-needed conversation about the UK’s shameful disability employment gap.”
