When employer branding is done right, it drives tangible results — and in Casella’s case that meant hundreds of applications for positions they were struggling to fill. It also meant a bonus uptick in searches for their core services, resulting in a boost for their business from multiple angles.
Casella Waste Systems is a publicly traded company providing waste management services in the Northeastern United States. Founded in 1975 by John Casella, who continues today as the company’s CEO, Casella offers residential and commercial collection, recycling, dumpster rentals, organics recycling, landfills, and resource management consulting throughout 11 states.
Casella needed to increase hiring for their driver and mechanic positions. They were experiencing a lack of qualified candidates as well as issues with retaining drivers. Casella connected with BuildWitt seeking help with employer branding to support their recruiting efforts.
They needed us to create something that could:
We worked closely with the Casella team to translate these challenges and needs into key messaging to set Casella apart. Our messaging strategy set the foundation for their employer brand, which was then used to build out a creative campaign paired with strategically selected assets to use for recruitment.
We took a deep dive into Casella’s target audiences to uncover as many insights as possible. After developing an understanding of these audiences, we developed a creative campaign made of visual and messaging elements that would particularly resonate with them.
The BuildWitt team created an online survey targeting CDL school graduates (then-current employees of Casella) to gather information on the demographics, marketing opportunities, and motivations of these employees when choosing a career. We also facilitated in-person interviews at three different locations in Vermont and Connecticut.
Our learnings helped us land on differentiated, punchy messaging that formed a cohesive campaign. We leaned into the pride and reward that can be had from a career built on an honest day’s work — contrasting it with the typical desk job, or the debt-ridden path of college. We drove home the higher purpose of this work with, “Good Pay. Good People. Good Life.”
Our media work with Casella covered role-specific assets as well as higher-level employer brand assets. We shot three videos to educate audiences on three different roles available at Casella. Our media team also delivered edited photos to use in campaign assets. The primary video for “The Power of Hard Work” aired as a primetime regional commercial during the Super Bowl.
We delivered multiple employer brand assets to Casella for use in creating content across various mediums and to provide a framework for future initiatives. This included verbal identity, visual identity, brand guidelines, campaign concepting, and finished media assets.
All of the work we did with Casella was brought together not just to create a foundation for its employer brand or awareness, but to drive applications. The campaign messaging, media assets, and employee spotlights we helped create were used by Casella’s internal marketing team to build a careers page on their website that had the “different, fresh, and contemporary” elements they’d set out to achieve.
After our initial work with Casella, they came back to us with another important task: create a campaign platform and video to celebrate a remarkable anniversary. Building upon the foundation of “The Power of Hard Work,” Casella’s 50th Anniversary campaign, “The History of Hard Work,” honors the company’s legacy of dedication and perseverance while inspiring future efforts.
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