Ok, this one will only be fun for those of you speaking German, but indeed it could actually be a clever viral stunt:
In total, it is a range of 10 videos (sofar) also found on the website Werben&Würgen, which seems to be made specifically for the videos making fun of the work environment of Becker, Brown & Hardy, an agency from New York, also located in Berlin. The website of Becker, Brown & Hardy already has a big notice up, denying any involvement in this, stating that they will take legal action against the creators of Werben&Würgen.
But who really is the creator? Is it Nolte & Lauth? They have PR statements on their website (opens PDF) claiming to support the website of Werben&Würgen. But it doesn’t really say how they support it…
The Website Werben&Würgen.de however is registered for Olaf Bauch, Ibob TGA, Usingen. That doesn’t help much, because whatever Ibob TGA is, their website does not yet show anything. And Olaf Bauch in Usingen seems to be an engineering bureau.
So, who is behind this? It does look like a cleverly made viral recruitment campaign for either (or both) of these agencies. Since the 10 clips have already taken us this far, I suppose (and hope) we’ll soon find out the rest about this…
In the meantime, enjoy the videos, they’re a lot of fun to watch!
And if anyone finds out what the real story of these videos is, let me know!
[Update: here and here are other sites actually stating that it is indeed a stunt by Becker, Brown and Hardy. I just wonder, how they got Nolte&Lauth in to participate? The two sources mentioned above wrote their posts well before N&L were brought into this. Or is N&L a fake agency? Or is it part of the BB&H Network? Anyway, the two sources say that even the main German Ad Newspapers fell for this, so I don’t feel so bad afterall…]
Wo ich sonst so bin...
Go to http://www.gelbe-seiten.de (German yellow pages). And search for:
1. Becker, Brown & Hardy
2. Nolte & Lauth
Result:
1. Es wurden keine Ergebnisse zu becker, brown & hardy gefunden.
2. NOLTE & LAUTH GmbH . . . 60329 Frankfurt . . . 70174 Stuttgart
So…no results for BB&H, while N&L has offices in Stuttgart and Frankfurt.
My hypothesis would go like this:
1. Becker, Brown & Hardy is fake. Including the website with the we-didn’t-do-it-and-we’ll-sue-anyone-who-does-banner.
2. NOLTE & LAUTH has been behind this the whole time.
If my hypothesis proves right, this must be the best agency recruiting campaign EVER!
N&L demonstrates:
– competence in the viral space
– a fine sense of self-irony
– credibility as a great place to work
Shopping in the extremely tight market for digital advertising talent where money alone can’t buy the best people, N&L is pushing all the right buttons with prospective employees. Brilliant.
I am impressed by this thourough analysis! It proves once again, that „big names“ aren’t everything. Execution is king 😉
Thanks for this!
Well, as it now turned out the analysis of mr. white was totally right.
NOLTE&LAUTH has gone public with being behind everything (see their website http://www.nolteundlauth.de – there you can find the corresponding press release) and there have also been articles in the german advertising magazines W&V and HORIZONT.
I think that was a great way of promoting an agency and their culture and i’m pretty sure they will recieve a lot of applications.
Mr. White, you were right!
And, by the way, parts of your comment have made it into the latest PR of N&L
Impressive, check it out.
Wow. I *do* feel flattered. As close to a full quote as you can get. 🙂
I’d really be interested in the success rate for this campaign, i.e. how many people applied in response to W&W — and about the quality of those leads!