Recruitment advertising has become the creative end of the advertising business, Mr John Bowman, master of ceremonies, told the Creative Effective Design Advertising for Recruitment (CEDAR) awards in the Berkeley Court Hotel last week.
The awards, sponsored by The Irish Times, recognise creative and effective design in advertising for recruitment.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Ms Maeve Donovan, commercial director at The Irish Times, said the recruitment advertising sector has found itself in challenging times because of the buoyant economy and labour shortages.
"It's not simply about advertising a job but about contacting a myriad of parties. Recruitment advertisements have to work in innumerable ways to further companies' objectives, and the medium chosen is important," said Ms Donovan.
Eight awards were made in nine categories chosen by the judging panel under the chairmanship of Mr Turlough O'Sullivan, director general of IBEC. Awards were presented to the winners and their agencies.
The judging panel approached the task of compiling a short-list from the wide range of entries by looking at ads that would attract interest and generate a response from the public.
Bell Recruiting Advertising scooped four awards for clients in four different categories.
In the finance category, its client, Deutsche Bank, was setting up an operation in Kilkenny and needed to recruit a number of financial professionals, while also emphasising that the positions were based in Kilkenny. Utilising a striking image of a cat, with relevant language, the ad was designed to show that Deutsche Bank was thrilled to be moving in with the Kilkenny "Cats".
Bell Advertising also designed the winning ads for KPMG in the general management category, for Ogilvy One in the sales and marketing category and for Heinz in the technical and engineering category.
"It's fantastic recognition for a lot of hard work, especially for our creative people who put so much effort into designing the ads, making them work and making them look good," said Ms Rachel Clarke, managing director of Bell Advertising.
"Recruitment is now a boardroom issue. Companies need to sell themselves so hard in this marketplace because candidates have so much choice. It's a hard job to do. The ads have to stand out and have got to have a relevant message."
The computer category was awarded to WBT Systems for an ad created by Dimension Advertising with the dual purpose of differentiating the personality of the company and attracting IT specialists.
In the personnel and training category, Coca-Cola took the award for its ad which was designed by McConnells Recruitment Advertising. The ad for a human resources manager featured a Coca Cola bottle-top with the slogan "Reach for the Top", thus associating Coca-Cola with success and achievement.
"The ad was one of several in a campaign and they were quite effective because the company got the people they were looking for, which is what recruitment advertising is all about," said Mr James Lavan, managing director at McConnells.
He added: "Recruitment advertising is now a big and important area in companies' spend, whereas before it was just loose change."
In the series category, Intel picked up the award for a series of ads that were designed by Des O'Meara & Partners. A Doherty Advertising-designed ad for the Marine Institute took the special merit award.
No award was made in the medical and educational category.
