Most Effective Recruitment Marketing Campaign 2020

Ant Middleton 24 Hour Live Challenge – The AA in partnership with PeopleScout

Motoring breakdown organisation the AA needed to attract a new audience and dispel the misconception that the only roles on offer were for roadside breakdown mechanics. So the AA, with PeopleScout, turned employer branding into live entertainment.

  • In line with AA staff living the organisation’s values and proving they were ready for anything, ex-Special Forces soldier Ant Middleton would test six AA employees physically, mentally and creatively through a series of wilderness challenges in a live 24-hour event, where the public would choose the intensity of the next challenge to be inflicted on them. The brave team would be awarded points not just for how well they completed the tasks, but how well they lived the AA values – dynamism, collaboration, expertise and care.
  • There was no one more suited to the task, the brand or the campaign’s message than celebrity host Ant Middleton, who as a former member of the Special Boat Service embodies teamwork, expertise, dynamism and expecting the unexpected. His presence boosted the AA’s campaign profile before, during and after the event.
  • With employer brand ‘Ready for ANYTHING’, the challenge was bound to throw up unexpected human challenges, including a contestant’s wife who went into pre-labour on the first day of the event, and in true AA style, he still managed to complete the event while she cheered him on from the hospital!
  • The results were far beyond anything the AA had achieved previously: the average dwell time on the live event was 19.5 minutes, versus 4 secs for a regular social post; 38,000 engagements on Instagram, 2.3 million views on YouTube; 230,000 visits to the AA’s careers site over the 24 hours; and all applications were up (apprenticeships +193%, roadside +143%, contact centre +230% and head office +228%).

Judges’ comments: “This was a clearly innovative campaign, which particularly impressed due to its multi-channel approach and focus on end results.”