How casting the right people for a global video series unified Bain's employer brand across 65 offices
How do you build a single creative idea that makes the world's smartest candidates across radically different markets feel like they already belong?
This case study includes the following research and creative methods I conducted:
Campaign strategy
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Casting strategy
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Audience psychology
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Paid & organic amplification
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Content production
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Campaign strategy • Casting strategy • Audience psychology • Paid & organic amplification • Content production •
My RoleI owned the casting strategy for the Be More campaign, identifying and selecting the right people to feature based on the psychological dimensions of the Be More mission, and ensuring each story mapped to a specific candidate persona and behavioral motivation.
I also owned the full amplification and syndication strategy, ensuring the videos were deployed and optimized across Bain.com/careers, LinkedIn, and Instagram, integrated into paid media campaigns, activated at global and local recruiting events, and distributed across appropriate internal and third-party platforms.
THE CHALLENGE
Bain had strong employer brand recognition in the Americas and EMEA but low awareness in APAC, with inconsistent messaging across all markets leaving candidates with an unclear picture of who Bain was.
THE APPROACH
I conducted a psychology-informed casting strategy built around the Be More mission, selecting talent whose personal stories made each dimension of the campaign tangible across 8 talent areas and 65 global offices.
THE OUTCOME
I delivered a unified global employer brand narrative delivering click-through and engagement rates significantly above industry benchmarks across LinkedIn, Instagram, and Bain.com/careers.
why this matteredBain consistently ranks as one of the best places to work, recognized across Glassdoor, Fortune, and Vault as a destination for top-tier talent. The challenge wasn't the reality of working at Bain. It was making that reality visible and credible before a recruiter ever reached out. In APAC especially, low brand recognition meant candidates had little context for who Bain was or why it mattered. In markets where Bain was known, inconsistent messaging created mixed impressions across regions. “Be More” was built to solve both, a single creative idea that could unify the global employer brand while speaking directly to candidates drawn to environments that push the smartest people further.
The strategic insight behind the creativeThe candidates Bain attracts are already high achievers, drawn by the chance to work on the world's toughest problems alongside the smartest people. But Be More tapped into something deeper: the most ambitious people don't just want to perform at the highest level, they want to see themselves in a place that matches their potential. “Be More” made that possible by showing real people living it. That insight had to stretch across two motivational profiles simultaneously, candidates driven by personal growth and those drawn to something collective, impactful, and bigger than individual achievement. Be More was written to hold both, which is what made a single creative idea scalable across 65 offices worldwide.
THE CASTING STRATEGYI chose each person featured in Be More because their story made a specific psychological dimension of the mission tangible. The casting framework mapped each featured employee to a distinct motivational driver, giving candidates across 8 talent personas someone they could see themselves in, doing work that felt meaningful rather than abstract. The campaign launched with five stories in 2023 and is actively expanding with three more released in March 2026.
CINZIA - The Creative Engineer
Speaks to candidates who want strategy, technology, and human experience to coexist in their work. Targets the "bold ideas into reality" dimension for design and innovation personas.
RACHEL - The Bain Advocate
Twenty-plus years answers the question every high-achiever asks before joining: "Will this place actually be what they say it is?" Targets long-term belonging over short-term opportunity.
ANDREA - The Purpose-driven Consultant
Shows that passion for community and social impact is embedded in the work at Bain, not separate from it. Targets the "generous in spirit" dimension.
THORSTEN - The Curious Analyst
Speaks to technically minded candidates who want their expertise to create meaningful real-world impact. Targets the "be more alive to opportunity" dimension.
SAM - The Boundary Pusher
Speaks to candidates who want their creativity operating at the highest level with the world's biggest companies as the canvas. Targets the "be more than you ever imagined" ceiling.
ABDUL - The Career Reinventor
A former doctor working alongside extraordinary teams. Gives candidates who don't fit the traditional consulting mold permission to see themselves here. Embodies "one step outside your comfort zone."
NICOLE - The Empathetic Leader
Addresses the most common high-performance firm fear that thriving means sacrificing personal identity. Makes the "be more authentic" dimension concrete.
TIIRAM - The Bain Builder
Speaks to candidates who value agency and want to build a career on their own terms. Targets the "deviates from the set path" dimension for candidates drawn to Bain's non-prescriptive culture.
Amplification StrategyI deployed the global campaign across Bain.com/careers, LinkedIn, and Instagram with paid and organic working in tandem, activated at global and local recruiting events, and extended through internal and third-party platforms to reach candidate communities outside Bain's direct audience.
The Be More campaign exceeded industry benchmarks across platforms
(2025 data performance).
3.8%
Average Clickthrough Rate
Industry Benchmark: 0.5-1.5%
55K
Average Reach per Post
Above category average
2.5x
Above upper benchmark
vs. 1.5% industry ceiling
2.3%
Average Engagement Rate by Reach
Industry Benchmark: 1-2%
154K
Top Post Reach
2M
Total Video Views
2.2M
Total Impressions
22
Engagement Score
Across Site Placement*
*engagement scores in the 20s are typical for mass-reach brand videos on Bain.com
TimelineSTRATEGY & BRIEF
May 2022 - October 2022
CASTING & PRODUCTION
November 2022 - January 2023
GLOBAL LAUNCH
February 2023
SERIES EXPANSION
March 2026
ReflectionsThis project reinforced something my research made visible early: the most persistent workplace communication problems are rarely about skill. They're about cognitive infrastructure. When people are given a framework that externalizes the thinking they were already doing intuitively, communication gets clearer almost automatically. That's exactly why Be More was built around real stories from real people. Candidates don't need to be told what Bain is. They need to see it lived out by someone who looks like the person they will become.