Using Humor & Social
to stand out in a stale HR benefits market

Client: GP Strategies

 

THE CHALLENGE:
How to make an employee retention program interesting,
and dare we say . . . fun?

PnP charcter designLet’s face it, Employee retention programs are not exactly the most exciting tool in the box, so how do we stand out and get noticed? Our client proposed some ads to make fun of the perk-based theory of retaining employees. If fun is what we’re after, I felt we could do better and proposed something bigger.

MY ACTION:
Create a relatable cartoon series that satires employee perks.

I saw this as an opportunity to pitch (and won) the concept of a new social ecosystem that used humor while engaging users to share stories on the topic. This was the birth of ‘Purpose Not Perks.

The campaign starts with our main character “Pete Purpose”, who highlights the ineffectiveness of perks at his company. His presence is the mouthpiece of the site, as well as the star of a weekly satirical comic series on the topic. We also developed several supporting characters to help build relatability across the cartoons and fictitious postings on the topic. All content was sharable across Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter; linking back to the main website.

THE RESULTS:
We did more than just get noticed, we built a following.

Using humor was a first for this market, and helped the client stand out in a unique and memorable way, while engaging our audience like never before. Employees responded with their stories, shared our cartoons, engaged in discussion, and more importantly, shared it with management.

My roles in the project:
Strategy & concept, UX/UI, Branding, Web design, Social media, Illustration direction, Copywriting, Managing web development

PROJECT PLANNING

– Created & pitched the overall concept

– Developed the characters and their personas, directed illustrations

– Planned and wrote all site content

– Concept/Created online game show to increase interaction

– Created all UX & Admin functionality plans

 

Social platforms to drive engagement to the main character site

• Draws attention to the ineffectiveness of perks, allowing people to read and submit their experiences with them

• Provides tools to engage management w/new HR products

• Rolled out the Purpose Not Perks theme across Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter platforms

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