Image campaign: ‘We can only become more visible together’

The Trade Association Lifts and Escalators in the VDMA (German Engineering Federation) has launched the second round of the image campaign “Beweger gesucht” (starring movers). Jan Steeger, project manager of the campaign, has compiled the most important questions and answers for LIFTjournal.

With slogans such as ‘Lift opportunities’ and ‘The steepest careers of all time’, the campaign is aimed specifically at young talent, female applicants and career changers. The aim is to create more visibility for the industry and to inspire skilled workers with the wide range of career opportunities.

Photo: © VDMA

Why is the ‘Looking for movers’ campaign going into its second round?
The shortage of skilled workers in the lift industry will worsen drastically in the coming years. This is due to demographic change. It is estimated that by 2035, there will be a shortage of seven million workers in Germany. For this reason, the lift industry has to present itself as an attractive employer. Especially because it is an industry that many young employees and potential career changers don't even have on their radar. When it comes to recruiting, our competitors are other industries with big names and brands, such as the automotive industry.

But doesn't the recession in Germany and the problems of the German automotive industry also play into the hands of the lift industry in this respect?
The demand for skilled workers is not an issue that will only concern us in the coming years. In the long term, it will be a decisive factor for the success of our industry. This makes it all the more important to increase and strengthen the awareness and image of lift companies in the long term. Only in this way can we motivate people to switch to our industry.

Did the first round of the image campaign last year achieve this?
As far as the figures are concerned, definitely. With the online ads and videos, we reached more than 22 million users last year. More than 15,000 people visited our website ‘beweger-gesucht.de’ to find out more about the professions in the lift industry. We were particularly pleased that most visitors were interested in the topic of ‘training’. This shows that we have been particularly successful in reaching younger people with the campaign.

Photo: © VDMA

How many people have actually switched to the lift industry as a result of the campaign?
We can't put a figure on that. We have received occasional feedback from the participating companies that applicants have mentioned the campaign in job interviews. But these are isolated cases that do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the overall impact of the campaign. The aim of the campaign was not to recruit, i.e. to find suitable candidates for vacant positions, but to generate attention for the industry and the exciting job roles. We have made a good start, as the campaign reports show, but this is a long-term effort. We have to keep drumming up support for our companies, because they are still not being heard enough in the job market.

What did you do differently in the second round compared to the first?
We know from the first round what works and what doesn't. We used this experience to improve our presentation. We focused on the job profiles. Less text, better lines, motifs that connect with our products and services. That's why we expect the performance of the second campaign round to be even better.

In the first round, only twelve lift companies took part in the campaign, and now there are only eleven in the second round. Why is that?
The campaign is largely financed by the participating companies. However, many lift companies are reluctant to spend money on something that doesn't directly benefit their brand but rather the industry as a whole. We are very happy that we were able to raise a six-figure sum from the participating companies for the implementation at all. For the first time since the lift industry has existed, there is a joint campaign at all. And now for the second time. And on top of that in difficult economic times, which many in the lift industry are also feeling.

Photo: © VDMA

Where can the campaign be seen?
We are placing ads and video ads on the major social platforms from Instagram to Tiktok and are represented with Google Search and Google Display Ads. Unfortunately, our budget does not allow for out-of-home advertising. That would attract a lot of attention to us. On the other hand, we can now focus all the more on conversions, that is, on attracting as many users as possible to our landing page and informing them about the diverse career opportunities in our industry. Part of this is the podcast series ‘Beweger gesucht’ (Looking for movers and shakers), which offers exclusive insights into exciting professional fields – from sales and service to engineering and dual study programmes.

Will there be a ‘Beweger gesucht’ campaign again next year?
It is up to us as an industry to become more visible, and we will only do that together. So, to put it succinctly: yes.

More information: beweger-gesucht.de