Accountemps (a Robert Half company) were still very attached to their nearly two-decades-old radio farm campaign around Bob, a fictional character representing the ideal Accountemps temp, who saves the day. Their request: reboot Bob for a new generation.
This was honestly one of the most interesting challenges we’ve faced. But we finally hit on a direction that seemed to fit the bill: turning the previously cartoonish praise into tongue-in-cheek, earnest-but-awkward praise. Fortunately, the client agreed.
We cast a talented troupe of comedic actors to play Bob’s coworkers in candid interview settings. The resulting short videos played out in a sublime Guffman-esque workplace pageantry. Packaged as a multi-channel campaign, the work was a hit with viewers.
With comments including, “It's like a 1:30 episode of The Office!,” “One of the best ads ever, and “legit brilliant!,” Bob was back. After significant increases in engagement, sales, and market share in test markets, Accountemps rolled out the campaign nationally. The videos were viewed over 1.6 million times and drove an 1,800% increase in social engagement. The icing on the cake, were the Best Brand Campaign and Best Video Campaign awards from Digiday.
