LinkedIn’s creative team brings passion to being a professional

Years ago, people used LinkedIn for one purpose only—finding a job. They’d post a résumé and wait for results. Now, the site functions as a community gathering place for exchanging ideas, networking and professional improvement. Job seekers still use LinkedIn, but the brand has become much more than what it was, and a large part of that is due to the brand’s in-house creative team. See all of Ad Age's A-List 2022 winners here. “We’ve worked really hard over the last several years to transform that perception to say, ‘You can get a job on LinkedIn, but it’s really a place to go to find a professional community that helps you find success,’” said Kevin Frank, the executive creative director who leads LinkedIn Creative Studio. “It has evolved to really focus on things like equity and representation and removing the stigma of asking for help—we’ve moved it to a higher level of purpose.” After joining the company five years ago from Apple, Frank has been building up the in-house division, which was founded in 2015, into a cohesive entity able to service a variety of internal business units such as LinkedIn Learning and LinkedIn Sales Solutions. Frank’s team of roughly 30 staffers—double what it was when he arrived—serve in an agency-of-record capacity or as a consultant. They handle projects on their own, or work with external agencies including BBH and McCann. Lately, projects have included more top-of-funnel campaigns for LinkedIn, which Frank credits to the strength of the previous work his department has done for the company. Buy your ticket for the Ad Age A-List & Creativity Awards Gala at AdAge.com/ACGala. “Through that process of building trust, building those relationships, we’ve gotten to a point where our internal clients, our business partners, are trusting us with some of their biggest campaigns,” Frank said. One of the division’s campaigns from last year involved working on Self-ID, a product that asks people to anonymously share sensitive information around gender, disability and ethnicity in order to create more equity for everyone. The more people who used Self-ID, the more LinkedIn could tailor its product accordingly to be more equitable and inclusive, Frank said. His team put together a campaign promoting the product and inspiring LinkedIn users to use it. The work included video and display ads where members told their stories and explained why Self-ID could make a difference. Four out of five LinkedIn members completed Self-ID once they landed on the page. See all of Ad Age's A-List 2022 winners here. “When I shared my Self-ID data, I did it with the understanding that it could help LinkedIn create equal access to opportunity and drive more equitable outcomes for all members, regardless of their demographics. Choosing to Self-ID on LinkedIn is undoubtedly a very personal choice, and for me, it is one I know will deliver a meaningful impact,” Imani Dunbar, LinkedIn’s head of equity strategy, wrote on the platform last fall. LinkedIn is also tapping into new workforce dynamics brought on by the “Great Resignation.” Frank’s team recently worked on a campaign called “Welcome Professionals” that challenged people to rethink their definition of “professional” beyond an office cubicle and white-collar job. The national push included TV, video and digital display ads with messages including, “Bringing your inner child to work is professional.” “The reason people are resigning is they’re looking for different kinds of meaning in their work,” said Frank. “The way that campaign and that cultural idea came together is around, ‘Hey, professional can mean taking a break from your job,’ ‘Hey if you want to quit your job, that’s OK, that’s professional.’ It’s professional to follow your passion.”

LinkedIn’s creative team brings passion to being a professional

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