DeWalt takes the lead in the recruiting race.

As with most employers these days, job recruitment is highly competitive. In Tennessee, Stanley Black & Decker’s DeWalt Plant is competing for talent with some of the biggest brands and most aggressive recruiters out there out there, including Amazon and Walmart. They couldn’t compete in media spend, so in partnership with our sister agency Primacy, they challenged the team to find a message that would not only break through the noise, but also reach their target audience.   

Additionally, Stanley Black & Decker wanted to leverage the existing NASCAR Sponsorship to create messaging that lived outside the event alone, and elevate brand perception by debunking the misperception that their tools are all manufactured in China or other cheap labor markets. 

With an eye on the growing Nashville skyline – and DeWalt’s role in building it – we turned a NASCAR sponsorship into a 360-degree employee recruitment campaign that extended beyond race day. It was built around a direct message that hit hard on the local pride that resonated throughout the focus groups.  

As part of our omni-channel approach, we utilized multiple and unexpected touch points to create a more holistic, organic and 360-degree impact during NASCAR. Billboards on the way there. Radio ads at the tailgate. PA announcements between races. Meet and greet events with drivers. We didn’t just serve them ads, we became a part of their day at NASCAR – making us synonymous with one of the things our audience is most passionate about. With a boot-strapped budget, media dollars moved between tactics when necessary, or our teams deployed hyper-targeting tactics like geofencing around the racetrack on race day, job sites around Nashville, and other businesses where we new potential job seekers would be. This digital approach paired with the offline tactics, stretched our budget to a 6-month campaign that led to significant increases in applications in the TN market and above benchmarks seen in other markets.   

In addition to thousands of application submissions, and millions of impressions – we made an immeasurable brand impact in a key market for Stanley Black and Decker. We’ve also seen that’s it’s more than a line in their ads, Dewalt and their employees are proudly building the tools that build Tennessee.