a new era for a prestigious brand.
In June 2023, Randstad UK was appointed as the RPO workforce solutions provider for British Airways (BA), supporting recruitment for Customer Experience Representative (CER), Ground Operations Agent (GOA), Baggage Handlers and Transport Admin Assistant roles.
But this partnership wasn’t just about filling vacancies—it was about reshaping perceptions. By early 2024, the Randstad marketing team had initiated strategic discussions with BA to uncover deeper hiring challenges and future goals. The insight was clear: while British Airways had no trouble attracting candidates, the challenge lay in differentiating the high-performing talent whose values aligned with the BA brand.
At the same time, British Airways had recently refreshed its consumer-facing brand to reinforce its position as a premium airline. They now needed their employer brand to reflect the same tone of quality, pride, and prestige—and they had a particularly urgent need to hire 30 fluent Spanish-speaking candidates, a notoriously hard-to-reach talent pool.
Hear from the staff on the ground at Heathrow Airport:
a strategic and creative partnership.
Randstad’s in-house marketing team took full ownership of the project, delivering a comprehensive talent attraction campaign without relying on external agencies. For a fixed fee, Randstad provided British Airways with an end-to-end marketing solution, backed by talent marketing experts in project and campaign management, copywriting, graphic design, SEO and digital.
Persona-led planning
The campaign began with rigorous candidate persona development. Using a blend of workforce data from the previous 12 months and local market mapping, Randstad identified key traits of successful candidates and uncovered untapped audiences who matched the BA profile but weren’t actively engaging.
These insights were presented to BA’s HR and Talent Acquisition teams in a collaborative workshop, helping to align messaging and media strategy with business goals.
creative execution and media mix.
Based on the persona findings, the Randstad team developed three creative concepts—ranging from conservative to bold. British Airways selected the mid-point design: confident, evolved, and aligned with their new brand tone.
Randstad then produced all campaign materials in-house, including video and photography captured on location at Heathrow. Real BA employees who also reflected our personas shared their stories, giving potential applicants a genuine view into life at the airline. These assets were central to a broad media mix that included Meta, LinkedIn, X, YouTube PMax, programmatic advertising, premium branded job boards with embedded video, and email nurture communications.
The campaign launched in a phased, cost-controlled way, allowing Randstad to closely monitor performance. Within just two weeks, Meta ads were generating clicks at just £0.08 each—a remarkable result for permanent roles in the aviation sector and upon completion of our meta advertising, our video had received 2.05 million views!
collaboration at every level.
Throughout the campaign, Randstad’s marketing and account teams worked in lockstep with BA’s stakeholders. Weekly reviews ensured alignment between application volume, channel performance, and workforce requirements. The campaign could adapt quickly to shifting needs without additional spend or delays.
The videos Randstad have provided really bring the roles to life and adds a different dimension to our recruitment campaigns. The support Randstad has offered has been very agile in terms of meeting our ever changing priorities.
impressive results and enduring impact.
The campaign didn’t just meet its objectives—it exceeded them.
- 97.06% of successful hires attributed their application to marketing activity or word-of-mouth (heavily influenced by ad exposure).
- 67.65% of all hires applied directly through marketing-driven channels.
- The campaign successfully filled 34 Spanish-speaking roles—11.76% over target—despite the roles being known as hard-to-fill.
This success cemented Randstad’s position as a trusted long-term talent partner for British Airways. The campaign’s impact led to further investment, with two additional filming and photography days at Terminal 5 to refresh assets and extend the campaign’s lifespan. An awareness-building campaign is also now planned to support ongoing hiring in future intakes.
why this campaign stands out.
This project combined strategic insight, creative excellence, and operational agility to deliver measurable business results. What made it exceptional?
- Hyper-targeted strategy: Persona-led planning meant every piece of content was relevant and resonant.
- Cost-effective performance: A best-in-class CPC of just £0.08 on Meta platforms.
- Authenticity: Real employees featured throughout, lending credibility and warmth.
- Adaptability: Language settings and creative focus were strategically adjusted to better attract Spanish-speaking talent—without any additional asset production.
- Scalable success: British Airways now considers Randstad a key employer brand partner, with ongoing collaboration secured.