Finning (Canada) is a division of Finning International Inc., the world’s largest Caterpillar equipment dealer.
Primary Goal & Objectives
- Hire 150–200 heavy-duty mechanics.
Primary Challenges
- Alberta had very low unemployment at the time, which meant that Finning (Canada) had to compete with both direct competitors and other industries for employees.
- Teachers and counsellors had negative perceptions of the trades and were guiding students away from this career path.
Primary Strategies
To help Finning (Canada) reach its goal, we first had to develop a strong human resources brand to put it on the map as an industry leader. We created a strategic marketing plan to:
- Develop a large-scale recruitment campaign combining innovative grassroots initiatives and traditional mass media marketing to effectively deliver the message that Finning (Canada) was hiring.
- Develop a visual direction to differentiate the client from its competitors, reach rural markets that were not affected by the economic boom and place the company top of mind with target audiences. This became The Wanted Tour – a mobile recruitment team complete with a donated decalled Hummer, wearing fatigues and dog tags, that visited rural markets.
Primary Results
The response to the campaign from Finning (Canada), prospective applicants and the media was phenomenal.
- 1,000 résumés were received each month of the tour.
- Within the fi rst year, Finning (Canada) hired 1,000 new employees found through The Wanted Tour—more than five-times its original goal.
- Due to the originality and popularity of The Wanted Tour, Finning received more than $300,000 in free media exposure.
- Alberta Venture recognized Finning (Canada) as 2007’s Marketer of the Year for The Wanted Tour campaign.