Imagine being an HR representative. You are in charge of hiring and with unemployment rising, you’re flooded with applications. This past March, a high school janitorial position received a total of 700 applications. So how do you stand out from the crowd?
Typically, advertising is known for eye-catching, creative applicants. For instance, a newly minted BA bought a wallet, put his resume on business cards and gave it to the ad agency secretary to “return” to the creative director. The creative director was confused for a moment when he opened the wallet and found a resume. While the creative director might only consider a few — if any — portolios that come across their desk, the intern was hired immediately. He stood out.
The resume below captures that same creative spirit. This is Sean McNally’s (an artist and animator) resume:
Consumers experience something similar to your HR rep: they see hundreds of brands every day. Even those that struggle to stand out are “just typical” ads. So how do you stand out?
It’s about creating something that is fun and meaningful, then building a branded experience around it. Consider Volkswagen’s Fun Theory. The project makes banal activities fun. For instance, they attached a sound recorder to make throwing out a piece of trash fun. Or, they make a staircase a piano so it’s fun to use.
How can your brand make your product or service stand out by injecting a bit of fun? Is it the sound of lightening every time you spray your produce (Genuirdis), or syncing your music with your running (Nike)… or is it illustrating your creativity and wit (RPG resume)? Brands that cut loose and have a little fun stand to generate buzz and engage their consumers in a meaningful way.