Nissan UK
A major recruitment drive ahead of a new car launch. A campaign built on a single insight, candidates aren't motivated by salary, they're motivated by how a job fits their life.
A major recruitment drive ahead of a new car launch. A campaign built on a single insight, candidates aren't motivated by salary, they're motivated by how a job fits their life.
The insight
Salary wasn't the driver. Life was.
The campaign was informed by research from an earlier Nissan project that had explored what motivated candidates to consider a role change. The finding was clear: salary ranked low. What actually moved people was the overall work experience — benefits, company culture, the practical ways a job supported their life outside of work.
That insight shaped everything. Rather than leading with pay or career progression, the campaign was built around the full picture of what working at Nissan offered — gym membership, medical benefits, company clubs — positioned not as perks, but as reasons the role fit a life.
Gym benefit concept and final design with photography
What I did
Concept, photography and full campaign production
Following a collaborative brainstorm with the team, I proposed the initial campaign concept and tagline — "New Year, New Career" — which evolved through development into the final message: "New Year, New Me, New Career". The shift mattered. It repositioned the opportunity as a meaningful life change rather than simply a job move, which aligned directly with what the research told us about candidate motivation.
To gain stakeholder buy-in before committing to production, I built a set of concept designs using stock imagery and rough layouts. Once approved, I led the photoshoot, shooting original campaign imagery aligned to the concept. Working within Nissan's brand guidelines — strict and, at the time, visually dated — while producing something that felt current required deliberate creative decisions at every stage.
The final campaign ran across print advertising, social media assets, Google ads and video animations, with a consistent visual and messaging framework across every channel.
Photoshoot for campaign
Outcomes
All positions filled. Deadline met.
The campaign delivered against its primary objective: every role was filled ahead of the new car launch. Applications increased, and stakeholder feedback confirmed the campaign's focus on lifestyle over salary resonated — both internally and with candidates.
For a multinational manufacturer with a fixed production deadline, filling a large headcount on time isn't an incremental win. The campaign had a job to do, and it did it.
