Media · TVC · Strategy
In partnership with Lifestory Creative
Bright Horizons
A research-led media buy, targeted recruitment for a childcare giant.
Media · TVC · Strategy
In partnership with Lifestory Creative
A research-led media buy, targeted recruitment for a childcare giant.
01 The brief
Bright Horizons needed qualified early years staff for specific nursery centres — mostly around London and Cambridge. The candidates they wanted weren't browsing job boards. They were younger, likely still local, possibly college-trained, and not actively looking. Traditional recruitment wasn't reaching them.
The brief was speculative. They weren't expecting hires. They wanted to find out whether broadcast could work as a recruitment tool at all.
02 What we did
We ran two targeted broadcast VOD campaigns — first on ITVX, then on Channel 4 on demand — across twelve specific centre locations. Rather than a broad national push, we mapped postcode-level audience data to identify the most likely candidates: younger viewers, college-adjacent areas, right geography. The targeting was precise enough that we could align placements to relevant programming — MAFS Australia delivered strong contextual reach with the right demographic.
We produced the creative in-house and managed the media buy directly, which meant the targeting logic fed straight into both what we made and where we placed it.
03 The result
While they came for a proof of concept for an even larger campaign shift, they ended up taking on seven new staff.
Broadcast recruitment isn't cheap — but a traditional agency placing seven early years candidates would charge comparable fees in placement costs alone, with no brand awareness, no residual impressions and a much narrower candidate pipeline. The campaign did both jobs simultaneously.