Market: Karalee Evans

Evans’ “skirt-for-hire” campaign caused quite a stir in the advertising industry - just as she’d intended

Karalee Evanssells herself well.

“Late 20-something” Evans had handed in her notice as communications and partnerships manager at headspace, the youth mental health foundation, to seek work at an advertising agency. “One weekend, I thought I would reverse the role. Instead of an agency hiring me, I would see if I could hire an agency,” she says.

Evans posted a job advertisement on media and marketing industry website Mumbrella. With tongue firmly in cheek, she trumpeted: “An opportunity for a bold and beautiful agency has arisen.” Her advertisement also said: “As a social and highly driven agency . . . You will be looking for a senior resource to be client facing and drive strategy across your client base.”

To publicise her campaign, in true generation Y, social media savvy style, Evans began blogging anonymously and set up a Twitter account under the moniker “skirt for hire”.

In using the usually sexist term skirt, Evans explains that in the old days of Madison Avenue advertising agencies – glorified in the television series Mad Men – a suit referred to strategists and planners, as opposed to creatives. “Females are often referred to as a skirt, which is a reference to suit,” Evans says. “[I was] playing on a term that’s often used in agencies, which I think helped target my audience.”

Evans had a sneaking suspicion her plan would work but wasn’t betting on it. Imagine her surprise when her job ad was discussed on Mumbrella. Her stunt created much hubbub as media industry types tried to guess her identity, while others applauded her approach – cue followers on Twitter and calls from recruiters and agencies.

To the uninitiated, the response may seem like pot luck but it is clear Evans is a seasoned campaigner. “I used how I would develop a social media strategy for a client for myself,” she says.

Identifying the influencers is an important first step in any social media strategy. “I got a couple of friends online to spread the word using word of mouth,” she says. “They would find ‘skirt for hire’ and promote it through their networks. That got the word out and pushed that organic growth.

“I was impressed that the agencies that I had on my wish list were the ones that did indeed contact me. I had four [agencies] that were serious conversations and that I entered into role discussions with.”

Digital marketing agency Amnesia Razorfish hired Evans as a social strategy manager. Her role will be to push for social media integration into marketing campaigns for such clients as Microsoft, Pepsi and Ikea.

Evans is enthusiastic about social media, despite the negative press about corporate forays into the space. “One thing I [would like to] get out of this would be to encourage both businesses and people to explore social media and use it for anything from recruitment through to meeting business objectives or perhaps even dating or meeting new friends.”

She has already inspired a copycat – a “suit for hire” Twitter account set up by a university advertising student.

BRW

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