Paul Ellis
About    Work

+1 —
The people behind the science

AstraZeneca is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to pushing the boundaries of science to deliver life-changing medicines. Following a competitive pitch, the company appointed Parker to develop a global employee referral campaign that would unite multiple regional schemes under a single idea. The aim was to inspire employees worldwide to refer new talent from their networks and strengthen AstraZeneca’s position as an employer of choice.

Existing referral programmes varied across countries and business units, each with its own identity and tone. The challenge was to create one campaign that worked globally – clear, adaptable, and easy to translate into nine languages. It needed to appeal to a diverse audience while staying true to AstraZeneca’s brand and purpose.

The ‘+1’ concept was a simple idea, built around inviting someone you know to join you at something special. The visual language combined bold scientific imagery with human stories, expressed through a split-image treatment based on AstraZeneca’s Talent Acquisition brand. A comprehensive toolkit and Playbook enabled local teams to roll out the campaign consistently across regions, formats and channels.