• by Aaron Baar , January 18, 2011

In today's economy, with many more people looking for work than there are jobs, it helps to have an edge. In a new advertising campaign, TheLadders.com asserts that it is the place to give professionals seeking the most desirable (i.e., those earning $100,000 or more) positions that edge.

The new ad campaign, which was created to coincide with seekers' New Year's resolutions to find new jobs, positions TheLadders.com as a site that will make applicants more attractive to potential employers through services such as providing one-on-one guidance through a personalized Job Search Advisor, resume reviewing or access to professional recruiters.

The television commercials, which will air during different flights throughout the year, depict decidedly average-looking professionals (actual members of TheLadders who applied to be in the commercials, the ad agency says) striking model poses in office environments. The theme: Make Yourself More Attractive to Employers.

"The creative is a metaphor," David Sigel, director of account management for Fallon, the ad agency behind the campaign, tells Marketing Daily. "All of these things add up to make you a better candidate to employers."

The new commercials represent a shift in strategy for the company, Sigel says. Previous commercials set up the site's top distinction -- that it featured only top-paying positions -- and how that would appeal to job seekers. An introductory spot depicted a professional tennis match being overrun by fans from the stadium, with the message that when other sites let everyone in, "the best can't stand out," Sigel says.

But as TheLadders built its brand and online search has taken over as the main resource for job seekers, the brand needed to expand its message and services, Sigel says. "There's no problem finding jobs online. The real problem is finding the ones that are valid," he says. "And once [people] find them, what they need is help. The online job search world doesn't work as well as it did three years ago."