In the last two days, we've seen some examples of marking and ad people going to the streets and the web to show companies how great they would be. While I completely sympathize with anyone who has recently been laid off due to the current economic circumstances, some of the tactics that have been going on take things a bit far.
For example, last week in Toronto a guy stood on a street corner with a megaphone, telling anyone who passed by that he was a qualified marketer looking for a respectable company to work for. I assume that he used this tactic to 'generate buzz' about himself but a quick Twitter search shows that nothing really registered.
While I applaud out of the box thinking, I don't know if I could see a managing partner or creative director approaching this guy and give him an interview on the street. Maybe you'd quickly pass him a card and tell him to get in touch later, but the situation (and mega phone) don't really create a comfortable environment for the director of HR to come and chat with you.
In another attempt, Shawn Norman Stewart created this video - called "Dear Droga 5: Please Hire Me!" and sent it to the agency:
The spirit of the guy is clear - he desperately wants a job at a top shop. But are these guys looking for desperation, or potential? It takes someone who is super-keen and ambitions to succeed in the ad world and for creatives, it also takes a ton of talent. This might get him in the door (which I'm sure was his goal) but he's going to quickly have to prove that he can do more than low-quality videos to make it at Droga 5.
Again...the effort is there. But are the days of cold calling the CD or walking into a few dozen lobby's with your CV over?
What do you think? Good idea or useless stunt?
