Vale

Vale is a Brazilian multinational mining company that built its position in Canada through the acquisition of Inco over 10 years ago, thus cementing its position as the largest producer of iron ore and nickel in the world.

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INDUSTRY
  • Resources & energy
  • Professional services
BRANDING TO
  • Attract top talent
  • Articulate value
  • Increase sales
SERVICES
  • Advertising & promotion
  • Corporate communications
  • Marketing collateral
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The Situation

Vale is the second largest mining company in the world. The Canadian operations include integrated mine, mill, smelter and refinery capabilities based in Sudbury, Thompson, Manitoba and Voisey’s Bay, Newfoundland.

Vale purchased Inco in 2006 and soon faced reputational challenges including layoffs, strikes closures and workplace fatalities.

Furthermore, the proliferation of better paying opportunities in the Alberta oil sands and northern Saskatchewan meant Vale had become uncompetitive on wages and therefore fell continually short of staff, 8-12% which resulted in production slowdowns and a failure to meet growth targets. Yield was asked to develop a campaign that would provide a 10% increase in visits to the Valejobs.ca web site, and 2% conversion of inquiries into hires.

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Human Catalyst

Higher wages cannot replace the value of family and friends.

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Our Solution

Vale had a unique advantage versus Fort McMurray and other remote locations. Their mine sites were located in close proximity to real towns that had schools, day care, parks, malls, movie theatres, hockey leagues. Places where families could live and work.

The brand strategy for the campaign became: “Work where you live”.

The creative solution was a simple, but powerful advertising format that challenged the audience to re-consider their job choice in the oil sands with lines like “Less 737, more 4X4”, “Less Frequent Flyer, more Frequent Father’. The advertising campaign ran in hub airports, on highways in and out of Fort McMurray and on web sites and in magazines like Western Sportsman, Hunting, UpHere and Motorcycles.

The campaign was considered so provocative that the Edmonton and Fort McMurray airports refused to allow the branding campaign to air given the concern about drawing workers away from those markets.

Radio advertising was also used to reach workers who were frequently in transit. Radio advertising spots ran in French and English and focused on the notion of the absent Dad.

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The Yield

Visitors to the Valejobs.ca website rose from an average of 50/day prior to the campaign launch to an average of 450/ day while the advertising was in market, an increase of nine times.

The recruitment page and apply now page received 3,500 and 4,000 clicks respectively during the advertised period.

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