Proving your stepmother’s adopted brother’s great, great aunt knows somebody…
The challenge
Thanks to a €10,000 cash incentive, referrals at King had always been high. But increasingly, employees’ little black books were exhausted. With the need for even more referrals, King needed an internal campaign that would boost the quality, reduce cost per hire and get employees thinking outside their close friends, family and contacts to find even more people to refer.
The solution
We created ‘Everybody knows somebody’; a campaign using the idea of six degrees of separation to get employees to consider those outside of their immediate acquaintance, to actively seek out friends of friends, contacts of contacts or even their sister’s best mate’s ex-colleague. Through the use of King assets, we made pride in the business, and not cash, the incentive. And we launched it across the global Kingdom, utilising walls, windows, desks and every digital platform King used day-to-day.
The results
Within two months, King recorded a 17% increase in referrals, with 62% of those invited to interview being hired and 33% of those being hired (a conversion rate up from 8% in the four months prior). The campaign did not only boost the quality of candidates referred, it did this without the cash incentive, representing a saving for King of 540,000 euros in just four months. Highlighting engagement with the campaign, a spoof poster was created by employees and posted on walls around the London office.
Art Director: Steve Frith