Move forward
DSV is a world-class logistics service provider. They operate in 84 countries, have 76,000 colleagues worldwide and 25 offices in the Netherlands. Erwin Peeters, Marketing & Communications Manager at DSV, talks about the size and continuous growth of the organisation: "DSV may not be a very familiar name to consumers, but we are the number 2 worldwide in transport and logistics. I am sure I can point to at least 10 things in every house that have been transported by DSV. The Netherlands is an important country for DSV because of its strong infrastructure and good location. We work here with about 3,500 colleagues and have a few hundred vacancies to fill every year."
"When I joined DSV in 2019, nothing was set up in terms of employer branding and labour market communication. I then started at the basics, such as optimising the website. Because of the growth we foresaw, Walter de Wilde, HR director at DSV, and I started working on employer branding. In September 2022, our first campaign went live and since then we have been running ongoing full funnel campaigns aimed at our 4 main target groups," Erwin said.
Software as a solution to the recruitment marketing issue
To execute its employer branding and vacancy campaigns, DSV looked to software. Erwin explains their choice: "In such a large organisation, it is impossible to do all the execution of marketing and communication on your own. For recruitment marketing, we found a good solution in MrWork. To speak in logistical terms, they take care of the fulfilment of our recruitment campaigns."
The choice of software was driven not only by efficiency reasons, but also by the consultancy you get with it. "Components within online marketing, such as SEO and social advertising, are professions in themselves for a reason. This is serious work that should be left to specialists. You don't just do that yourself. In MrWork, we found a software solution and a lot of recruitment marketing expertise and guidance in one," says Erwin.
"In the first 6 months of the campaign, we already saw hopeful results. 1 in 5 website visitors visited a job page. That's very neat, especially in the war for talent going on. We also saw traffic on werkenbijdsv.nl grow by 20% to 30% month-on-month. These results are due to the creative expressions and the good distribution of content to the target audience. This is where the MrWork software proved essential."
Erwin Peeters, Marketing & Communications Manager at DSV
People work with people
In addition to targeting their employer story to their target audience, there are two other key elements that are the common threads running through DSV's recruitment strategy - personality and omnichannel.
"People work with people. Candidates want to see faces and get a real impression of their future colleagues. That's why we make our recruitment marketing very personal. We have made dozens of videos in which our own people are on screen and talking. All in our own locations. Looking at the campaign results and the increase in the number of candidates we speak to, we can say that this method is catching on," says Erwin.
Erwin continues: "It is then important to continue this recognisability in all communications. So an omnichannel recruitment marketing strategy. For instance, we make sure that our employer branding content seamlessly links up with our work-at-home site and the vacancy pages. During the Career Fair, colleagues featured in the videos manned the DSV stand. They were wearing exactly the same clothes as in the video and were widely recognised. That helps create rumour around the brand."
DSV's recruitment success formula
DSV's goal was to create more visibility and enthusiasm for its employer brand and, of course, attract more candidates at the bottom line. Thanks to their formula for success, consisting of personalised content, the omnichannel approach and smart distribution of content to the right target group with the help of a software partner, they managed to realise their ambitions.
Erwin is not only thrilled by the hard numbers, but also by what he sees happening around the DSV brand. "We strike the right chord with our target groups, because we even manage to entice people who do not come from logistics to apply to us. For example, the other day there was a lady who wrote in her motivation that she never thought she would respond to a job in the transport and logistics sector. Our video convinced her anyway. Through situations like this, you know you are touching people and that the campaign is right," Erwin points out.
DSV's high visibility with strong content that sticks is evidenced by the fact that DSV people are addressed by strangers who have seen them in the videos. Erwin says: "The other day, a colleague was in a football stadium and was addressed by someone who recognised him from the employer branding campaign. In any case, I hear from many colleagues that those around them indicate that DSV is so visible. Then you know your campaign is doing well."
More than software
Erwin is enthusiastic about MrWork's recruitment marketing software: "The application is very user-friendly. It's also nice to have good insight into the statistics behind your campaign. We also get customised advice and guidance from MrWork. They do not impose a working method on us, but look at who we are as customers and how they can help us. They take us by the hand, advise on setting up campaigns and continuously come up with ideas for improvement. Not only for the campaigns, but also for our recruitment process, for example. MrWork regularly surprises me with new advice and proposals. They really want to make our recruitment marketing better."
"A good example of the ways MrWork thinks with us is in the standardisation of vacancy campaigns. Jaap (Team Lead Account Executive at MrWork) has set up 3 packages for us for job campaigns with various channels, budgets and distribution. As a result, recruiters can very easily show a hiring manager the options for a job campaign and the choice for one of the three packages is quickly made. I then put such a job campaign live the same day."
Erwin Peeters, Marketing & Communications Manager at DSV
The future for DSV
You never know what the future holds, but at least Erwin thinks the human aspect in recruitment and labour market communication will continue to play a leading role. "People ultimately want above all to have fun working together. That has always been the case and will always remain so. The focus on our personal labour market communication remains and MrWork is an important partner in this. We are happy to show with this case what we have achieved together!"
