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JobsAhead campaign to focus on print media

Ratna Bhushan

NEW DELHI, Sept. 6

JOBSAHEAD.com has firmed up plans to initiate a specific communication strategy, the bulk of which will comprise a print campaign in national-level dailies.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr. Arun Tadanki, who recently moved from Nestle to JobsAhead.com as chief marketing officer, said a budget in excess of Rs. 6 crores had been set aside for overall communication for the next six months.

Up to 80 per cent of the Rs. 6-crore budget will be diverted towards print advertising, with offline activities such as hosting events and job fairs in educational institutions making up for the rest. The possibility of an electronic campaign is not bein g considered for the time being, company officials said.

The print campaign is expected to break within two weeks. ``We intend to focus on the five cities we currently have a physical presence in,'' Mr. Tadanki said.

JobsAhead.com operates out of New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. Three more cities would be tapped by the end of the calendar year, he added.

Through the campaign, JobsAhead.com intends to highlight that it has closed 2,500 jobs, has an equal number of corporate clients and 10,000 live jobs on offer across eight communities.

The campaign will also highlight the range of jobs available on the portal. The idea is to work towards an integrated and consistent presence in the media, according to company officials.

In the past, the portal has been advertised to coincide with a couple of cricket tournaments. ``That was the first phase of the campaign, aimed at registering top-of-mind awareness among potential users and to rise above the media clutter,'' Mr. Tadanki said.

JobsAhead.com claims the largest user base among all Indian portals -- 3,00,000 registered users -- which translates into a penetration level of 10 per cent among Indian Internet users. The other differentiators claimed by the portal are a proprietary se arch engine, voice resume facilities and a confidentiality feature, which prevents a submitted resume from being viewed by a user's current employers.

In addition, the portal has incorporated a `JobAlert' service, which implies that relevant information about existing jobs is dispatched to people who are not necessarily active job seekers.

The portal operates through three key constituents -- jobs search, career resources and career communities.