Kony 2012 may be the most ambitious recruitment campaign that I’ve ever seen. Jason Russell’s The Invisible Children has been established to build awareness rapidly about Joseph Kony and to recruit people to help effect his arrest. Here are some observations:

Social media and engaging content
To date the first Kony 2012 video has over 104 million views on YouTube, over 3.2 million likes on their Facebook page, and they’ve received over 3.59 million pledges. Their aim was to recruit people to their cause on an international basis, and they’ve successfully reached their audience through developing engaging and personal content. To differentiate, companies looking to attract the right staff need to effectively identify their target audience and create engaging social media content to best talk to them. It isn’t enough to have a passive message – it has to encourage action.

Advocacy
Initially, people didn’t know Joseph Kony, but they do know Justin Beiber (20+ million Twitter followers) who took to Twitter to put his endorsement on the cause. In business, people aspire to work for companies that have individuals who are strong advocates for the brand; these are people who are the face of companies and who display a passion for their work.

Word of mouth
My colleague in March: ‘Have you seen the Kony video’?
Me: ‘The what??’

My first thought was, is that a new consumer electronics brand or sports shoe brand? By the time my wife and colleagues had mentioned Kony; it was difficult to NOT watch the video. In the recruitment industry; the best jobs and the best people that we hear about are always through word of mouth and referrals.

Empowerment
The best companies in the world offer individuals the promise of being part of something special and to make a difference. Kony makes it clear that their goal cannot be achieved without ‘you’ helping to effect change. People always ask us ‘Why should I come to work for this organisation?’ Kony 2012 reflects that the impetus should come from the individual; i.e. what you can bring to the organisation and how you can contribute.

Compliance
The positive response received from the campaign has been matched in full by negative sentiment and backlash as to financial disclosure and intentions of The Invisible Children. With the current nature of information and its accessibility, companies will be scrutinized from front to back. Prospective employees will do their due diligence and background checking, so be prepared and make sure the house is in-order.

Until next time.

empowerment, Facebook, Hiring, Jason Russell, Justin Beiber, Kony, Kony video, recruitment, Social Media, The Invisible Children, Twitter, YouTube