Home Instead Launches Winter Campaign to Attract More People to the Care Profession

Home Instead, the world's leading home care company, have appointed Creature London to develop an integrated campaign focused on recruiting care professionals.

Home Instead are committed to providing a personal level of care. Their services mean that older people can remain in their homes for as long as possible: a place of memories and security and where they feel happiest and most comfortable. However, the care industry is currently struggling with a recruitment crisis due to the profession being hugely undervalued, coupled with a rapid increase in demand post covid.

Home Instead is no different. Currently, it is recruiting for over 4,500 new care professionals across the UK. To combat this and attract people to a career in care, they tasked Creature with creating an integrated recruitment campaign that spoke directly to a specific audience - people who just ‘can’t help’ but care.

Caroline Woodall, head of marketing at Home Instead, said “As a brand, we continually strive to showcase the work that our care professionals do every day in caring for our clients. It is important for us to highlight the profession and the progressive career opportunities we can offer. We believe this campaign does just that by perfectly encapsulating the essence of what caring is about. It’s those special moments showing how care professionals use their skills and personality to ‘find a way’ to help an older person feel happy and comfortable at home. We’re hugely excited to be launching the campaign in the North West initially and seeing the impact it will have on recruiting new talent into the profession, and indeed into the care sector.”

The campaign launched on Boxing Day, a time when families come together, but it is not always the idyllic scene we are presented in film and on cards. Instead, it can be a time when we realise that our parents and grandparents might be struggling more than we knew and we spend the new year thinking about the additional support they need.

Every part of the ‘Just a Carer - No Such Thing’ campaign uses true stories from real Home Instead care pros to capture the best bits about their jobs without shying away from the realities. Across TV, digital, print, radio, social and direct mail we see the real difference a care pro can make. From helping Meera work past her water phobia to helping Eddie overcome his hygiene struggles and Beryl’s room confusion, we see the pivotal role a care pro provides, ensuring that everyone can maintain their dignity as they age.

The campaign leads with a 30" TVC. In it, we visit Beryl's bungalow, her much-loved home. But recently, the doors have started playing tricks on her, taking her to the wrong rooms and leaving her confused and scared. But with the help of a Home Instead care pro, we see how a small but insightful change can make a huge difference. 

Creature London started working with Home Instead this summer. Initially, they were tasked with helping them define a new employee value proposition, understanding their audiences and the reasons to choose a career in care as well as the many barriers to it. Ben Middleton, chief creative officer at Creature expands. “For years, Home Instead was the leader in in-home care – pioneering the model – but competition has become fiercer, and they asked us to devise a new and compelling brand proposition that once again will set them apart. Home Instead: the people who will find a way.”

“The Just a Carer - No Such Thing campaign draws on the upsetting insight that many people don't appreciate the work that care professionals do for our loved ones and communities; no wonder fewer and fewer people are considering it as a career choice. So, we focused on what makes at-home care such a challenging and rewarding career, and by using real care professionals' accounts of their work with their clients to inform the narrative, we’ve done just that."

The campaign has been produced by Kode Media and directed by the award-winning, Locky.