Publicis Uses Analog Medium -- A Rotary Phone -- To Recruit Web3 Talent

How do you compete for scarce Web3 talent if you're a giant multinational agency holding company looking to staff up for the next big thing? If you're Publicis Groupe, you go where that talent is and put really big red phone to attract them in the metaverse.

The phone, which the Amsterdam office of Publicis Groupe Benelux dubbed the "Metaphone," is a visually distinctive on-ramp to the agency's recruiting team.

Or, as Publicis Groupe Benelux Chief Creative Officer Eduardo Marques explains, "The talent that will shape the Metaverse is already inside it."

Never mind that the Metaphone is depicted as an old school, analog, rotary dial phone that some of the younger Web3 talent may not even know how to use -- they can simply use their avatar to walk right into it.

"By using outdated technology," the agency says it is "enticing" bleeding edge Web3 talent to "leave the virtual world for an instant to show their talent in the real world."

advertisement

advertisement

The Publicis team didn't explicitly say whether they were inspired by the 1999 film "The Matrix," which utilized exactly that metaphor for characters living in the simulation to re-enter the real world, but it's likely implied for fans of the film.

Regardless of what inspiration Publicis drew on for the Metaphone metaphor, Publicis Groupe Netherlands Head of Talent Acquisition Jocelyne Pieterse notes it is a pragmatic solution for getting the attention of the right talent prospects.

“Brands and agencies will play a vital role in the transition from the real to the virtual world, but only if they understand what moves people there," she explains, adding "The Metaphone is a bridge between worlds and a bold new way to approach creative talent that understands the Metaverse and can help us build it. All they have to do, is pick up the Metaphone."

Interested? You can access the Metaphone on "Decentraland."

Next story loading loading..