What A Job: FINS.com Launches Multimedia Effort

Man-and-Dogs

A year after a relatively quiet launch to serve financial services professionals, FINS.com, a job search and career management site and service from The Wall Street Journal, is getting ready to make a splash with a multimedia advertising and marketing campaign that will include television, Internet video, print and social media.

"We launched a little more than a year ago, and in the last few months we've added two additional verticals [in sales and marketing and technology]," Kevin Hatfield, general manager of FINS, tells Marketing Daily. "This is an opportunity to leverage a much larger audience to expose them to the collection of FINS sites."

FINS is different from other sites, Hatfield says, because it not only provides resources for active job seekers, but leverages content from The Wall Street Journal intended to keep people updated on the trends and needs specific to their industry.

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"It's editorial that meets job board," he says. "We're a site that's safe to look at at work because we're about your industry. We're keeping you abreast of your career and your industry simultaneously. That gives us an opportunity to build an audience not just with active job seekers but passive job seekers, as well."

Television ads for the site, which will begin airing the week of Jan. 24, use a tongue-in-cheek approach to build brand awareness, showing people what not to do during job interviews. One video, for instance, depicts a man surrounded by his dogs at a conference table. When the interviewer explains that the position for which the man is applying will require extensive travel, the man responds that it's not a problem.

It takes a few more subtle points from the interviewer (the travel will involve conferences, hotels and airplanes that may not be pet friendly) before the interviewee gets the hint. The spot concludes with the message "Tip #23: Leave the Dogs at Home." Onscreen messaging introduces Fins as a property "from the Wall Street Journal" where people can find a job and manage their careers.

"The whole process of job search is not fun for anybody, especially in this economy," Hatfield says. "We wanted to make it a fun experience [with] the collection of interview tips that are very lighthearted."

Although FINS.com serves a dual purpose, the ads focus on the job search aspects as a way to draw people in, Hatfield says. "We've got 30 seconds to get your attention," he says. "Once you get there, you can quickly see it's more than just a job site."

The company will leverage its association with Dow Jones parent News Corp. for its media, running on properties such as Fox News and the National Geographic channel, as well as other outlets, Hatfield says.

A concurrent print campaign will also begin running next week, with heavy weight on Dow Jones properties such as The Wall Street Journal, as well as financial magazines like SmartMoney and More. The company also has plans for radio advertising as well as a social media component, Hatfield says.

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