For its first-ever broadcast spot, Deel wanted to do more than just tout its functional benefits. It wanted to position itself as a knowing insider who understands the emotional and psychological stresses of daily life in the HR & payroll industry.
Deel knew they could make inroads with new customers if they raised awareness among executives and HR professionals, and showed empathy about the challenges they face. But what kinds of challenges do HR and payroll professionals face?
Paying freelancers across multiple markets. Administering tax information to remote workers spread around the world. Onboarding teams in multiple languages simultaneously. The list goes on…
As remote work becomes the new norm, HR has gotten exponentially more complex. It’s enough to make even the most stoic HR manager grit their teeth.
Deel turned to Loop to help them capture this feeling and make it relatable to their target audience.
The “This Is Fine” meme has come to represent exactly this kind of frantic, complex, seemingly insurmountable workplace challenge. We’ve all sent, received, or felt seen by this poor dog as he does his best to remain optimistic despite all the mounting chaos around him.
And it perfectly captures the current plight of the HR industry. Loop and Deel both agreed early on that this was an important theme, and began developing it into a broadcast spot.
The first step was to engage the originator of the decade-old comic. With his blessing, the team got to work.
Taking the place of the dog from the comic is an HR manager who’s juggling frantic tasks involving onboarding, payments and more. As his stress level rises, the flames get higher. “This is fine,” he says at every turn—though clearly it’s not.
The teams wanted to stay true to the original while creating a fresh, captivating, high-tension visual. The tiny hat, the empty picture frame, and the profusely sweating main character are all an homage to the classic meme. However the writing and the tasks mounting on his computer - the metaphorical “fire” - are all updated and made unique to Deel and their industry.
At launch, the spot received positive coverage in Ad Age and was selected as “Editor’s Pick.” Not bad for a company’s first ever broadcast spot! In the 3 weeks since launch, it has also accumulated over 2M views on Youtube, and energized the HR community around the brand.
