Australia – SEEK has launched a new campaign aimed at small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across Australia and New Zealand, highlighting the importance of finding the right candidate for a role.
Developed by Droga5 ANZ, part of Accenture Song, the campaign features a fictional small business owner named Maria and illustrates the potential impact of hiring the wrong employee.
The initiative is based on research conducted by SEEK in partnership with Nature, which found that hiring the wrong person can cost small businesses up to 26% of an employee’s salary, in addition to wider operational impacts on the organisation.
The campaign also highlights SEEK’s AI-powered recruitment tools designed to help SMEs identify suitable candidates more efficiently. These include AI job ad writing capabilities that generate job advertisements quickly, AI-driven recommendations that prioritise potential matches, and Talent Search features that allow employers to proactively find and contact candidates.
Building on the platform’s longstanding “SEEK and you shall find” brand positioning, the campaign adopts a “fish out of water” narrative approach. The story is told from the perspective of a small business owner in a mockumentary-style format, depicting the challenges and consequences of a poor hiring decision.
While the campaign incorporates humour and exaggerated characters, it is anchored in a common challenge faced by SMEs, where hiring decisions can have significant effects on day-to-day operations.
SEEK Chief Marketing Officer APAC, Maryanne Tsiatsias, says: — “SMEs are more time poor than ever before, and at SEEK we are always investing in product experiences that offer the best possible matching capability for SMEs to find the right person for their business. A wrestler in an antiques store is a light-hearted, entertaining way to visually demonstrate the impact a wrong hire can have – and exactly why having the right tools to find the right match matters so much.”
Droga5 ANZ Creative Director, Connor Beaver, says: — “Ricky the wrestler is a lovable guy, but he’s not quite the right fit for an antiques shop. We think these spots do a great job of highlighting how SEEK’s tools can really give SMEs a leg up in the hiring process – and we’ve loved working with the team at SEEK to bring them to life.”
The campaign comprises three 30-second films, each demonstrating how SEEK’s tools can help small businesses find suitable candidates quickly. It is running across broadcast video-on-demand, online video, radio, search, display, social media, and SEEK-owned channels across Australia and New Zealand.
![[Featured Image] AI Visibility Forum 2026](https://marketech-apac.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Featured-Image-AI-Visibility-Forum-2026.png)
