Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust staff recruitment campaign
A bold recruitment campaign for a leading NHS Trust, combining care, culture and local pride to attract top talent from across the UK.
The challenge
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust appointed Ave to create a long-term recruitment campaign aimed at increasing UK-based staff applications. The campaign needed to support multiple career pathways, with a particular focus on Nurses, Allied Health Professionals and Healthcare Assistants, and position the Trust distinctively within the competitive South East NHS recruitment landscape.
The solution had to sit comfortably within NHS brand guidelines while standing out visually and tonally. It also had to be adaptable for in-house use and sensitive to NHS staff morale, reflecting the Trust’s values without relying on overused tropes around ambition or personal stories.
The requirements
- A creative recruitment campaign identity that could be used across all platforms
- A concept that would work for general roles as well as tailored messaging for key positions
- A visual system flexible enough for in-house use and easy rollout
- A tone that felt inclusive, team-oriented and optimistic
- Creative that would differentiate the Trust in the region while staying aligned with NHS brand guidelines
- Campaign testing with internal stakeholders to ensure buy-in and resonance
The process
We began with a collaborative moodboarding session and workshop to uncover what makes Royal Berkshire unique. Two standout features shaped the creative direction: the Trust’s strong NHS Staff Survey results, reflecting a positive and supportive culture and its geography and name, drawing a natural link to the Royal Borough and the idea of ‘royal’ treatment.
We avoided common NHS campaign clichés and instead focused on team culture, pride and belonging. The concept needed to be warm, confident and unpretentious, something that made people feel valued, not sold to.
The solution
The campaign concept ‘Get the royal treatment’ positioned the Trust as a place where staff are genuinely cared for, a team that values wellbeing and delivers excellence together. It hinted at prestige without pretense, rooted in real culture, not hierarchy.
Visually, the campaign introduced a fresh purple alongside NHS secondary colours to ensure standout while staying within guidelines. A custom crown icon built from two hearts and a star symbolised care and excellence. This graphic device, paired with staff portraits and upbeat copy, created a vibrant, human-centred brand across posters, social media, digital adverts and open day materials.
The toolkit was designed for adaptability across multiple roles and recruitment needs, with templates and guidance for internal teams. The creative was tested with a trusted group of staff to ensure sensitivities were respected and the results were positive.
The campaign is now rolling out, with results to be assessed after six months, but early feedback has shown strong internal engagement and excitement about the new direction.
Would you like to see results like these for your organisation?
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