“At least no one will die” is a reassuring refrain used by many of us when something at work hasn’t gone quite to plan. In the latest of his Founders’ Stories, Steve McNally of WriteRecruit reflects on a project that needed to attract talent for a role that literally deals in life-or-death situations - and how the experience of creating that recruitment campaign changed the course of his own life…
A beautiful summer’s day…
Walking across Waterloo bridge one beautiful afternoon a fair few summers ago, I had little idea that the day would be something of a watershed moment for one of London’s key emergency services, not to mention my own career as a copywriter.
The day seemed perfect for “The Presentation” - the culmination of a project that had started a few months before, when my creative director (a rightly famous figure, recognised as the biggest of big beasts in the industry) chose me as ‘his copywriter’ on a campaign to engage people from all backgrounds and walks of life. The offer to our audience? Become one of the first paramedics in the UK, with the London Ambulance Service - in a role that makes you an expert at saving human lives in a non-clinical environment.
It’s about selling the London Ambulance Service in the best possible way. And making sure we have the people to save the lives of Londoners.
Even as a slightly naive young copywriter, I’d realised from the beginning that this was “big”. Big for the Agency. Big for the citizens of London. And big for the London Ambulance Service (LAS), which was on the verge of suffering industrial action by its ambulance crews - a fact that we couldn’t escape, thanks to daily horror stories of impending doom running in every edition of the London Evening Standard.
With so much glaring spotlight on his high profile operation, the CEO of the LAS had told us at briefing stage that this pioneering campaign needed to communicate the right messages - getting buy-in from current employees, as well as response from a wide range of candidates. “It’s about selling the London Ambulance Service in the best possible way. And making sure we have the people to save the lives of Londoners.”
Inspirational and impactful words, from a purposeful chief exec. Met with a knowing nod from Big Beast, and a big gulp from me.
What could go wrong?
Come presentation day, despite the slightly pressured backdrop, we felt highly confident of delivering a great result, for a number of reason …
Firstly, we’d spent many hours - including weekend and night shifts - undertaking some incredibly eye-opening (and humbling) on-the-job research as part of a London ambulance crew, to better understand the nature of work that can literally be a matter of life and death.
From those insights, we’d worked up a variety of different creative approaches and copy platforms - and presented them to both the LAS board and their trustees, with very positive feedback.
We’d spent many hours undertaking incredibly eye-opening (and humbling) on-the-job research as part of a London ambulance crew.
And on top of that, deep down, I knew we had the Big Beast to lead the presentation. He was one of those very rare animals who could hold any room and audience in the palm of his hand - which was just as well, because we needed to in effect ‘sell’ the ideas to some understandably disgruntled ambulance crews, in their own staff room, to get the campaign approved and launched.
A sunny Judgement Day was upon us, with a meeting scheduled for lunchtime - allowing as many ambulance crews as possible to attend the presentation and give their honest views on recruitment messages that we believed would both reflect the current reality as well as attract a whole new cohort.
Best laid plans
I got into the office very early that day, to triple check all the work, re-read every single word, and carefully pack dozens of concept boards into two very large portfolio cases. I’d been told to meet Big Beast and the account director at the ambulance headquarters, just a mile or so from our agency office - and even though my part of the presentation was simply to read out the copy that I’d written, I could feel butterflies, so decided to walk over to Waterloo in the sunshine, portfolios in hand, hoping to expel some nerves.
Arriving at LAS HQ feeling more relaxed, I was looking forward to being met with the usual banter from Big Beast creative director and the always-upbeat account director. Only Big Beast wasn’t there. He’d called in to say he was ill. So a wide-eyed and pale account director explained that I had to deliver the whole presentation. This rather disconcerting news was echoed by the London Ambulance Service CEO standing next to him, who through a fixed smile shook my hand and simply said “Over to you, Steve.”
Trying to find the right words
So, in we walked to a very busy staff room, where 60 to 70 ambulance crew were sitting chatting amongst themselves - only offering a cursory glance to their CEO and a casually-dressed stranger who had clearly wandered in from the street by mistake.
As the chief executive brought everyone to attention, I turned my back to the group to unpack the concept boards, and realised that my hands were shaking. Not a small tremble. A full-on cartoon character shake. “Beam me up, Scotty” may have been one of the more printable thoughts going through my mind.
Turning around and looking at a sea of impassive faces, I explained what we as an advertising agency were trying to achieve for the London Ambulance Service - to tell their story in the most compelling and accurate way, to attract more people to help them in their mission-critical cause.
Silence.
As I’d been taught by the Big Beast himself, I painted the picture of what each ad was looking to convey - before unveiling the actual ad, expecting to see or hear some type of response.
More silence.
Again. And again.
Twenty minutes or so into what started out as a presentation and was fast turning into a funeral, I decided (in something approaching sheer desperation) to read the actual body copy of the ads. This at least had the beneficial effect of filling the air with some sound, and also meant that I didn’t have to look up at what appeared to be faces made of flint.
Each piece of copy scoped a slightly different dimension of ambulance work; and after I’d read out three narratives, from A4 sheets that trembled throughout, I looked up and asked for the audience's thoughts.
Again, there was silence…eventually broken by a Glaswegian brogue emanating from a crew member in the front row.
I looked at the chap - a seasoned ambulance man aged in his late 40s - and he looked at me without blinking as he spoke in a very slow and deliberate way.
“If I read those ads you have written…Knowing everything that I know about this service…I’d apply for this job again.”
He sat back and gave the thumbs up. The room nodded and quickly dispersed back to the job of saving the lives of Londoners.
I looked across to the CEO and the smile in his eyes told me we had won approval to run the campaign.
Every. Single. Word. Matters
The experience of that day has stayed with me ever since. It launched a series of 12 ads that won the hearts and minds of over 14,000 people who applied to join the UK’s first-ever paramedic service, as well as becoming the first project to win ‘Best Campaign’ at both the RAD and CIPD Awards.
“If I read those ads you have written…knowing everything that I know about this service…I’d apply for this job again.”
And it changed my life forever. I walked back over that bridge feeling ten feet tall. I suddenly had the confidence to really enjoy working closely with clients on bigger, deeper communication programmes, nationally and globally. An ever-evolving journey that eventually led me to design a method on how to connect with candidate audiences, whoever they are.
The ultimate lesson? Every. Single. Word. Matters. And you have to be prepared to stand by those words, sometimes literally.
That’s why I’m proud to stand by the words created for any client organisation, in any sector, by WriteRecruit.
It’s the world’s most advanced (yet incredibly simple to use) automated solution for writing inspiring, inclusive, on-brand jobs ads.
It turns up and delivers every minute of the day, 24/7, 365 - writing an ad (in less than 10 minutes) that reads authentically like “you”. Whether you’re looking to attract a software engineer, a financial services professional, a facilities management operator, or a Scottish veteran of the London Ambulance Service.
If you’d like to see the platform in action, book a demo right here.