DS Smith
Founded in the 1940s as a box-making business in East London, the past 80 years have seen DS Smith undertake a dramatic and exciting growth journey. Through acquisition and organic growth, DS Smith has scaled to become a FTSE 100 global leader in sustainable packaging, paper products, and recycling services.
With an extensive worldwide design, engineering and manufacturing infrastructure, at the heart of everything DS Smith do are their people. Operating in over 30 countries with a workforce of 30,000, the skills and knowledge of its employees have enabled the Group to become a truly purpose-driven FTSE 100 innovator, focused on Redefining Packaging for a Changing World.
With a mission to win new talent, we were commissioned to develop a global recruitment campaign, delivering an inspiring digital communication platform and toolkit targeting multi-disciplinary roles across all geographic markets.
A global recruitment campaign to captivate new talent and celebrate culture
DS Smith needed a digital campaign that would create a platform to celebrate its company culture, whilst feeling fresh and compelling to support growth over the next few years. It was vital for the campaign to not only attract new talent across all key markets, but to also resonate with existing employees to aid retention.
To ensure the campaign's longevity, it had to authentically reflect DS Smith, celebrating the brand in a fresh and distinctive way.
A fresh approach to an existing brand
We developed a strategic narrative encapsulating the positioning statement, “Change in the making”; an idea that directly references their purpose whilst acting as an invitation for potential candidates. Building on the narrative, we refined the tone of voice to be Familiar, Confident and Direct.
This resulted in a messaging matrix aligned with specific ideals and audiences, effectively introducing who they are, their culture, and how they are driven by a shared purpose.
A flexible system and elevated look and feel
We focused on creating a distinctive campaign look and feel by refining their existing colour palette to ensure digital accessibility and audience appeal. We established a clear type hierarchy, using their existing brand typeface, drawing attention to keywords for bold impact and expressing dynamism through forward progression.
We created a cohesive, flexible graphic device inspired by their business heritage and expertise. This device can be applied through line work, interactions, and motion details to enhance applications and aid navigation.
Capturing passionate employees
Through a considered and carefully planned two-day on-site shoot with art direction, we captured employees through curated portraiture and observational reportage, embodying their personality and approachability while showcasing a vibrant and compelling workplace. Crucially, we managed to capture the diverse nature of the business to reflect a modern and inclusive environment, and the global breadth of its operations.
Equipping the business to drive global growth
We delivered a comprehensive recruitment toolkit designed to enable DS Smith to seamlessly adopt and implement the campaign across the business. This toolkit includes detailed guidelines on the refined tone of voice, visual identity, and strategic narrative, ensuring consistency in all communications. We also revised the careers section of the DS Smith website with refreshed copy, imagery and graphic style to align with the campaign.
By equipping DS Smith with this toolkit, we have empowered the business to effectively drive its global growth, attract worldwide top talent, and reinforce its position as a leader in the packaging industry over the coming years.
This is what good looks like! Since launching the campaign we have received so much positive feedback and the early results are very promising, with a 40% increase in website referrals to the ATS.