CareerBuilder Readies Ad Blitz

Facing fierce competition in the online job search market, CareerBuilder announced Tuesday the launch of a yearlong ad push in a variety of media.

The Reston, Va.-based company, owned equally by newspaper giants Gannett, Tribune and Knight Ridder, said it would advertise on television, in print, on radio, and with outdoor advertising. The campaign, spending on which was not disclosed, will use the motto “the smarter way to find a better job.”

“CareerBuilder’s marketing campaign shows job seekers how to find better jobs by creating personalized searches to zero in on employment opportunities quickly,” said Scott Brueggeman, CareerBuilder’s vice president of consumer marketing.

CareerBuilder is locked in a battle with the two leading online job sites, TMP Worldwide’s Monster and Yahoo!’s HotJobs. With over 130 newspaper affiliates and 400,000 job listings from 25,000 employers, CareerBuilder has sought to differentiate itself with its localized job offerings.

Last week, CareerBuilder sought to further differentiate itself from its competitors with the launch of a separate section for hourly workers — an oft-forgotten segment that accounts for about half of all jobs. Monster is also targeting this segment.

CareerBuilder’s ad campaign follows up on CareerBuilder’s “Be One” ad blitz, which it launched in September. That campaign sought to leverage CareerBuilder’s media backers, especially Knight Ridder and Gannett.

While both Monster and HotJobs will air advertisements during the Super Bowl for the fifth straight year, CareerBuilder plans to spread its TV advertising around in a buy that will include national networks and cable stations like Comedy Central and FX.

“This year’s marketing campaign is very aggressive,” Brueggeman said. “Our media spending will drive our message throughout the marketplace while bringing qualified candidates to employers and better employment opportunities to job seekers.”

Jupiter Research, whose parent company also owns this site, estimates that domestic online recruitment sites will take in about $800 million in listing revenues this year. That total is expected by Jupiter to grow to $920 million next year. By 2007, the researcher forecasts just under $1.5 billion will be spent on online recruitment.