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Dresdner Kleinwort

Stand out

Dresdner Kleinwort accepted its position just outside the exclusive circle of ‘bulge bracket’ investment banks, including Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. However, it wouldn’t accept missing out on top graduates, whose skills were already in short supply. Recruitment needed to be on a global basis — with messages influencing candidates in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo and New York.

Our answer

Dresdner Kleinwort have a good story to tell. After 34 telephone and face-to-face interviews – covering all functions, all levels and all locations – supplemented by four focus groups, we created our concept. ‘Spread the word’ builds from words the bank’s own people used to describe how it feels to work there. ‘Risk-taking’, ‘entrepreneurial’, ‘connected’, ‘flexible’, ‘warm-hearted’ — gave an accurate impression of a corporate personality markedly different to its competitors.

Our website design features 360° panoramas of the bank’s stylish, cutting-edge offices in London, Frankfurt and Tokyo. Rolling over the individual silhouettes in the scene, links directly to their video profiles. Each clip closes with their chosen word and their personal rationale for it. The result is different, refreshing, persuasive and quick — attributes that could apply to the bank itself.

Result

The graduate site was awarded the ‘Best Website’ accolade at the AGR 2007 conference. More importantly, application numbers around the globe are up, quality has improved and so have cost savings. In fact, this year, the Tokyo office recruited all its applicants through the enhanced website, meaning their attendance at expensive recruitment fairs could be cancelled. The word is ‘effective’.