Recruitment the RARE way

CANNES: Was it a presentation or a recruitment drive? While some speakers at the Cannes Lions informally asked people to get in touch if they wanted a job. Profero has been among the frontrunners using the festival for recruitment with a card that promised students at the festival, a chance to intern with the company's Shanghai office.

The presentation was again on a subject that both speakers and audiences at Cannes Lions 2007 can't seem to get enough of - the changing face of the youthful consumer and how inadequate current marketing is at catering to this group.

Profero believes the mantra to reach these audiences is RARE which expands to Recognition, Autonomy, Restlessness and Expertise.

The first was accomplished not by traditional means but by expertise among a circle of self selected peers like on a blog or a forum. Autonomy refers to the desire to make abrupt on-the-fly-changes and not follow pre-worn paths. Restlesness alludes to the constant quest for stimulation and Expertise to the fact that people are no longer restricted by the physical environment; when armed with the best or the newest in anything they will share.

Daryl Arnold, global CEO, Profero believes marketers and communicators ought to ask themselves the following, or run the risk of joining the list of brands headed for extinction: "Are we creating extraordinary experiences? Are we creating a fair value exchange?"