Guiding You Through The EMEA Media Minefield

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Toby Boon, International Media Planner Buyer
aia worldwide is a wholly-owned company in the UK

11/18/2011

The EMEA region can be a daunting prospect for a global recruitment campaign. It covers over 130 different countries. There are hundreds of languages and dialects spoken. And every market has its own idiosyncrasies when it comes to candidates’ habits and expectations.

Delivering a consistent multi-country campaign can seem like stepping through a minefield—with a few deadly snakes thrown in for good measure. But help is at hand—from the media team at aia worldwide. We’ve put together some guidelines that will hopefully make recruiting across EMEA feel more like a walk in the park.

One man’s meat is another man’s poison

Strategies that work in one market won’t necessarily work in another. Even countries sharing borders can have radically different economic climates, talent pools and media trends. Take France and Switzerland. Despite sharing borders, a common language (and a love of a frothy, hot chocolate), recruitment channels are very different. France is home to myriad niche job boards, which is perfect for targeting highly qualified and specialist candidates, yet the Swiss market is dominated by a small number of generalist boards that are determined by job seniority rather than by industry.

Brace yourself for the bill
European media generally costs more to purchase than anywhere else in the world, with German media up to six times more expensive than the U.S. Over $1,500 for a single job posting might seem exorbitant, but these products continue to work. Cross-border media networks can also help to bring down overall costs and deliver better value for money.

The internet is not always king
Internet penetration across EMEA ranges from 94.4% in Norway to just 0.5% in Ethiopia. So in some markets, print remains the most reliable channel to reach a particular audience—and in some African markets, size matters. For example, candidates in Ghana are more likely to respond to a full page advertisement, considering it indicative of an employers’ status. In the Middle East, print has bucked the trend of decline seen in the West, with several well-performing newspapers launching within the past decade.

Back-up to move forwards
Job board aggregators and SEM are increasingly important across some parts of EMEA, but applying them universally to campaigns will not always bear fruit. Although aggregators such as Indeed and JobRapido are investing heavily in the region, the process of moving eastward is far from complete. Always ensure that providers are able to back up proposals with the relevant statistics on how job searches are being carried out in English and the local language.

Mind your language
Advertising in the local tongue is sometimes a legal requirement, as in France; elsewhere, the media might not carry advertising unless it is in the editorial language of the publication or website. In practical terms, English-only advertising greatly improves searchability, although in many markets a refusal to translate can give the impression that you are taking overseas candidates for granted and not going ‘the extra mile’ to attract them. Translation costs—but repeat ads cost more.

Patience is a virtue
These things take time. Planning an EMEA-wide campaign means working across nine different time zones and three different ‘working weeks’. There are also countless different public holidays to bear in mind—if only we could observe them all! Inevitably, this can lead to longer turnaround times which need to be built into any delivery plan.

There’s a lot more we could say about recruitment media in EMEA, or in any other part of the world. For any information you need about international media planning and buying, please contact your local TMP account team who will be pleased to help.

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