CNBC - The Job Interview
Series Premiere Stunt
The Situation:
CNBC is well-known as a financial-news network. But much fewer people know about their slate of entertaining primetime reality hits such as Shark Tank and The Profit.
In November 2017, CNBC launched "The Job Interview". The show takes an inside look at the world where the words you say, the clothes you wear, and even the expression on your face can mean the difference between success and failure.
The assignment
We were challenged to get the word out and drive tune-in for CNBC’s new, original series “The Job Interview”, which had little to no brand awareness.
Strategic Approach
“Just imagine them naked”
We needed an idea that would make a splash in culture and cut through a saturated content landscape while also giving audiences a taste of the show’s drama and drive them to tune in for the show’s premiere.
We were inspired by the cliche advice of how to deal with nerves: “Just picture them naked.” This idea of being exposed became the inspiration for the vulnerable, nervous, baring-it-all feeling that a job interview can elicit in even the most confident and qualified candidates.
Creative Idea:
We took the concept of The Job Interview to its nerve-wracking extreme by organizing actual job interviews with real applicants in a pop-up office with see-through glass walls at Rockefeller Center.
The pop-up office was ordinary in every respect but one: it sat in the middle of one of NYC’s most iconic squares, with the world watching. Anyone walking by the office could see and hear what happened in the interviews.
Not only did this mean a large audience for every interview, but bystanders also tried to try to intervene—by coaching and taunting the candidates—making an already stressful situation even worse (or better). We captured every interview and turned them into a two-minute promotional video for the show highlighting the best moments from the day.
Results
2.4 million views in the first 24 hours
Over 55 million media impressions
A slight dent in the unemployment rate - a real job was accepted at the end of the activation
Episode 1 of The Job Interview was CNBC’s highest rated original series premiere
Awards
Cannes Lions 2018 Shortlist - Brand Experience & Activation, Launch/Re-Launch