CareerBuilder.com Takes Web Site On the Road

Online job network CareerBuilder.com is building awareness of its services by bringing the Web site to life and to the streets.

A Better Job Awaits 2005 kicked off in Chicago April 14 and will hit 43 of the top 50 U.S. markets before it ends in October. The goal is to hit perspective job seekers on their way to their work, therefore keeping the Web site fresh in their minds as they sit in front of their computers.

The company expects the tour to create more than 20 million impressions, said Richard Castellini, VP-consumer marketing for CareerBuilder.com.

“We view this as a great way to let people touch and feel the brand differently than they can online,” Castellini said. “We had the big (Super Bowl) ad campaign in the winter, and now we’re trying to touch consumers in a different way.”

The Super Bowl ads also contained the “A Better Job Awaits” tag line, and featured an executive trying to work in an office full of suit-wearing chimps. The chimps appear on the six customized branded Sprinter vans used for the tour, which contain satellite Internet access and computer kiosks.

At the tour stops, job seekers can get a one-on-one demo on the dos and don’ts of job hunting, interviews and salary negotiations and expert advice on resumes. Consumers can have digital photos of themselves taken gracing the front page of several different newspapers. The photos and additional information is available at CBtourusa.com.

The tour is handled by San Francisco-based agency Swivel Media, and the three teams will be stopping at events ranging from the Indy 500 and A Taste of Chicago to commuter hot spots such as train stations and office parks.

“We are focusing our efforts on people that don’t even know that they want, deserve and need a better working situation,” said Swivel Media creative director Erik Hauser. “We wanted to force the ‘a-ha moment’ for people that are heading into their ‘not so ideal’ [job]. This tactical strategy will help us achieve our goals because we are reaching our audience when they are on their way into their office and going towards their computers.”

Castellini said the flexibility of the tour allows the teams to make unscheduled stops.

“There are incentives for the teams to get the word out about CareerBuilder.com,” Castellini said. “We will have defined events for them to attend, but we will let them to seek out other ways to get the word out as well.”

Also on CBtourusa.com, current and new CareerBuilder.com members can register to win a grand prize seven-day cruise of choice from Norwegian Cruise Lines. Two prizes will be awarded, and airfare to the port of departure is included. The online sweepstakes is handled by Picture Marketing, Novato, CA, and Inergy Marketing Group, Clearwater, FL.

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