Executive Summary

The process of “adulting” includes one of the most formidable things on planet earth: the job hunt. As young Americans reach adulthood and enter the workforce, college, or just the next step in their careers, they must navigate through the tough waters of searching for the next thing, dealing with rejection, and finding the right job. But where do you go to find the right job when there are so many online job sites?

Currently, 18-24 year-olds have so much information at their disposal that it can be difficult for a company to cut through and connect. In an extremely crowded market, Indeed, the current #1 job site in the world, has plateaued at 69.9% unaided consideration among the 18-24 cohort and they asked for our help in increasing this number.

Consideration is a difficult metric to raise. It is very different from awareness; it is a measure of how well positioned you are in your target market’s mind. Positioning is how your consumers think of you — what they know you provide as well as what they know you respect within them. So, it is the value your service provides combined with your respect for the values of your target audience. Are you aligned with them?

Why did Indeed plateau? Unfortunately, according to our 352 survey respondents, A18-24 is unaware of the actual value of Indeed and doesn’t know how it is distinctive from other job sites3. It isn’t a matter of not having what this group of customers needs — in fact, our research indicates that Indeed actually provides all of the top 5 essential features for A18-24 during a job search — it is a matter of properly communicating it. How can this target market consider a service without truly knowing the features (value) or how it fits into their lives?

How will we increase consideration? By focusing on positioning. Throughout our campaign, we highlight Indeed’s features (the value provided), as well as how Indeed is aligned with this target market’s core values, including equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), accessibility, transparency, time efficiency, and emotional vulnerability or taking care of one’s mental health. Our secondary research shows that 64% of 18-26 year-olds make purchase decisions based on value alignment4. The emphasis on value of the features along with reinforcing the fact that Indeed’s company values resonate with the audience’s core values will serve to both increase brand knowledge and to increase brand sentiment. This, in turn, will have a direct positive effect on brand consideration, moving Indeed beyond that plateau. After all, when you know a brand has what you need and believes in what you believe…you are much more likely to put it into your consideration set.

Using a $6.9 million budget to fund clever OOH advertisments, unique experiential activations, and an authentic social media campaign, we will not only explain features of Indeed by speaking A18-24’s language but will also show how each feature truly caters to their core values.

Team 499’s values-driven campaign will generate an overall increase in relevant brand KPIs, ultimately establishing a 3% increase in unaided consideration the next time A18-24 looks for a job — putting them at ease knowing that Indeed is all they need.