Dell recruits TV to fill vacancies

Dell's recruitment campaign, devised by Irish International, features children's toys, as above, with appropriate catchlines.

Dell computers is planning a television recruitment campaign. This is the first time the company has advertised vacancies on television and it is another example of how imaginative computer companies must be when it comes to targeting likely employees.

Earlier this year, Microsoft was first to use cinema advertising to recruit employees.

Dell's campaign, which will run for seven weeks with a media outlay of £50,000 (€63,500), aims to recruit 500 people by the end of January. Most of the jobs are for manufacturing operators.

The TV ads will run in 10-second spots throughout the Christmas and new year holidays on RTE 1, Network 2, TV3 and TG4 starting this week.

Radio, press, outdoor and direct mail will appear throughout the mid-west where Dell employs more than 4,000 people.

The campaign will target emigrants while they are home for Christmas and is another phase in the company's recruitment campaign, which began in August.

Other less-than-traditional initiatives included an information booth at the Robbie Williams concert at Slane and a $50,000 lottery whereby employees could win anything from a weekend away to a bicycle. The seasonal campaign was devised by Irish International and features children's toys with appropriate catchlines.

One treatment featuring a monkey and the line "Earning peanuts?" - has already been withdrawn as the company believed it was not appropriate for this time of the year.

Xerox is also recruiting returned emigrants and again is moving beyond traditional press ads on recruitment pages.

The first suitcase which passengers at Dublin Airport will see next week will be Xerox-branded with a contact number going around the baggage carousel. Non-air travellers will also be targeted. The company will distribute recruitment leaflets at ferry ports and train stations.

Around Dundalk, where the company wants to recruit 1,000 people next year, Xerox will continue its indoor poster campaign which is unique in that it avoids traditional recruitment spots and concentrates on pubs and clubs.