What’s the Matter with Owen?

Read the campaign story

GE introduced What’s the Matter with Owen? in September 2015. The films followed a fictional programmer whose announcement of a new GE job confused the people around him. BBDO New York created the campaign, Tim Godsall directed it and Anonymous Content produced it. The original group included Hammer, Big News and Zazzies. The misunderstanding was the plot: the audience around Owen did not associate GE with the digital work he described.

Contemporary coverage positioned the campaign as an effort to attract technology talent and challenge an outdated image of the company. This is distinct from GE’s Unimpossible Missions product demonstrations. Owen’s problem concerned employer perception and explaining a professional identity. The sources establish the creative execution and its period, but this study does not infer an increase in qualified applicants or successful hires from publicity surrounding the films.

Editorial interpretation: the story makes an abstract positioning problem socially recognisable. A person wants others to understand why a new job matters, but their mental picture of the employer gets in the way. That is more concrete than a company announcing that it has transformed. The audience can recognise the awkward conversation even without knowing the technology. The character becomes a vehicle for correcting a misconception without opening with an institutional lecture.

Editorial interpretation: self-aware humour lowers the cost of admitting that a brand is misunderstood. It also creates a practical standard for recruitment communication: can a real employee explain the work as clearly as the fictional one? If the answer is no, the campaign may generate curiosity that the careers experience cannot satisfy. The landing page, role description and interview process need to make the new understanding credible at the level of everyday tasks.

Find the misconception before writing the correction

Ask prospective candidates what they believe your organisation does and where that belief came from. Compare their answers with current work rather than dismissing them as uninformed. Select one consequential gap that a short story can address. An employer may be well known and still misunderstood; measuring familiarity alone will not reveal whether the right people see a relevant opportunity.

Let real work substantiate the joke

Follow an entertaining premise with concrete examples of tools, responsibilities and collaboration. Have practitioners check whether the description reflects their experience. Avoid portraying industrial or operational work as inferior merely to make software roles seem attractive. A credible employer story can explain changing work while respecting the people and capabilities on which the organisation already depends.

Judge recruitment quality beyond traffic

A spike in careers visits can include entertainment seekers with no interest in the actual roles. Define the next meaningful behaviour, such as reading a role profile accurately or asking a relevant question at an information session. Assess the quality of the experience for candidates as well as the employer. Do not use humour to obscure requirements, working conditions or compensation information.

A small test for another brief

Proposed test: a specialist employer could create a short illustrated conversation based on one verified misconception, then pair it with a plain-language role explainer reviewed by current staff.

Measure correction of the specific misconception, accurate role understanding and interest in a relevant information session. Keep these separate from eventual hiring outcomes and avoid collecting unnecessary personal application data.

Stop if the portrayal misrepresents the work, makes existing staff the target of ridicule, or attracts applicants through promises the hiring team cannot substantiate.

• Conduct voluntary interviews with potential applicants and employees.
• Compare the illustrated explanation with the existing careers introduction.
• Invite participants to describe the actual work and identify questions they still need answered.