The Department of Finance Social Media Fail - KCB206
- Jun 3, 2018
- 5 min read
In March 2017, the Australian department of Finance suffered a social-media fail when launching their 2018 national graduate recruitment campaign. The catalyst for the fail was a leaked graduate recruitment video titled ‘The Game Changers’ which was picked up by the Australian media. The video formed part of a wider recruitment campaign aimed at attracting high performing university graduates to the department. Widely panned, the video was labelled by the media as “cringeworthy, atrocious and one of the worst examples of the genre ever seen in Australia” (Koziol 2017, para. 2).
On its own, the Game Changer recruitment video is not necessarily a social media fail, rather it is a poorly made video. However, when taking a broader look at the overall social media strategy of the campaign, the fail can be described as the department of Finance’s inability to engage with their key demographic of university graduates through social media platforms and an inability to create an environment that fostered a positive participatory culture amongst the demographic of university graduates.
The recruitment campaign failed to build a positive participatory culture by not engaging with social media in a manner that created genuine connections with the demographic of university graduates. Looking at the video the Game Changer the graduates shown in this video present as inauthentic. According to Victoria University (2017, para. 3) “the ad missed the mark in encouraging graduates to apply because it was neither compelling nor realistic”. Fuchs (2014) discusses Jenkins idea of participatory being a concept that allows collaboration between content creators and consumers often in a situation where people who have a high level of knowledge are encouraged to engage with others and share this information in online spaces. The recruitment campaign did not allow employees who participated in the graduate program to engage with social media in a collaborative manner. Instead of using social media tools such as ‘Facebook live’ or ‘Snapchat takeovers’ to highlight the benefits of working at the department of Finance the campaign used social media to inform applicants on how to find information to apply for the program.
The Game Changer video was the public face of the social media fail given it gained the most online traction across social media. The feedback surrounding the content of the video on social media by online media organisations also contributed to the campaign being a social media fail. Online media outlet Junkee who deliver content for the targeted demographic published a 'Scene-By-Scene Breakdown of the most awkward government ad of all time' and SBS satirical program ‘The Feed’ created this video in response,
gaining over forty-five and a half thousand views. The engagement with the content in this situation, can be viewed through the concept of Networked Publics which Boyd (2010, 39) describes as “the space constructed through networked technologies and (2) the imagined collective that emerges as a result of the intersection of people, technology, and practice”. In the instance of this campaign the intersection of people across social media platforms was to ridicule and discuss in negative terms the Game Changer video which contributed to the social-media fail.
The recruitment campaign was also a social media fail as it did not consider the social media habits of university graduates when attempting to persuade this demographic to apply for graduate positions. The campaign under-utilised Facebook by only using it to promote events and provide information on the application process and had no presence on Instagram or Snapchat. The target demographic is predominately aged in their early 20’s and therefore are known to not just be more frequent users of social-media but are also active participants and collaborators than any other generation. Bolton et. al (2013, 248-249) states “They are more likely to value others’ opinions in social media and to feel important when they provide feedback about the brands or products they use.” The below picture shows the followers of the department of Finance graduate program page compared to other similar government department graduate program pages. The Australian National Audit Office graduate page has 2675 followers, Australia Post graduate page has 4251 followers and the Department of Finance graduate page has 934 followers. If only observing the followers of each of the pages, it is clear the department of Finance has very low engagement with its target audience.
There are several very straight forward ways the social media fail could have been avoided by taking advantage of some of the exciting tools that multiple social media platforms offer. The following video is from Starbucks and is an example of how the recruitment video genre can work very well.
Another strategy that would have potentially been more effective would have been to create a few short thirty second to one-minute videos showcasing a day in the life of five graduates filmed 'selfie style' as they go about their day working. These videos, posted to social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube and Instagram would have created a more personal experience for applicants allowing them to feel more connected to the graduates. Discussing the importance of creating personal connections in-relation to the Game Changer video, Victoria University (2017, para 4) states “it doesn’t have any personal stories for a target audience to connect to, nor does it realistically explain the benefits of a public service career and misses the opportunity to entice the best and the brightest.” Taking advantage of the participatory culture concept, the department of Finance could have created a social-media calendar prior to launch, encompassing Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. A calendar would enable posts to be planned in an organised manner and would enable planning of very creative and exciting content including Facebook live sessions, Instagram stories or Snapchat takeovers. Snapchat takeovers in-particular could allow graduates to post directly to followers, showcasing a day in the life of a department of Finance graduate.
Another concept that would have helped to avoid the fail, would be to define the target audience more effectively by building a brand around what a department of Finance graduate looks like. The department of Finance graduate website provides useful information about what they are looking for once potential applicants access their website. However, this detail needs to be conveyed more succinctly in the advertising campaign. Patel and Agius (N.D) discuss how building a brand through blogging can be an effective tool in creating a brand as blogging builds exposure and creates a profile for the writer. The department of Finance could have enabled graduates to write blogs about their life as a graduate and posted it to social media platforms allowing potential candidates to get a real life understanding of what their life might be like while working in the graduate program.
References
Bolton, R. N., Parasuraman, A., Hoefnagels, A., Migchels, N., Kabadayi, S., Gruber, T., . . . Solnet, D. (2013). Understanding generation Y and their use of social media: A review and research agenda. Journal of Service Management, 24(3), 245-267. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/10.1108/09564231311326987
Boyd, D. (2010). "Social Network Sites as Networked Publics: Affordances, Dynamics, and Implications." In Networked Self: Identity, Community, and Culture on Social Network Sites (ed. Zizi Papacharissi), pp. 39-58. http://www.danah.org/papers/2010/SNSasNetworkedPublics.pdf
Fuchs, C. (2014). Social Media as Participatory Culture. In Fuchs, C. (Ed.) Social Media: A Critical Introduction pp.52 – 68. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781446270066.n3
Koziol, M. (2017). “This hilarious federal Department of Finance video may be the worst government ad ever.” The Sydney Morning Herald, March 1, 2017 https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/this-hilarious-department-of-finance-video-may-be-the-worst-government-ad-ever-20170301-gunrhy.html
Patel, N., Agius, A (N.D). “The complete guide to building your personal brand, How to buid your brand through outreach”. Accessed June 3, 2018. https://www.quicksprout.com/the-complete-guide-to-building-your-personal-brand-chapter-4/
Victoria University, (2017). “Recruitment ad misses mark” Accessed June 3, 2017. https://www.vu.edu.au/about-vu/news-events/news/recruitment-ad-misses-mark
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