We are the Janssen Brothers – recent graduates trying to break into the ad industry. So to get noticed by the best agencies we came up with a graduation project – Janssen Brothers United - that showcased our advertising skills and at the same time promoted us as a creative team. On as small a budget as possible. Janssen is one of the most common surnames in the Netherlands. There are many more Janssen Brothers – small and medium sized businesses that share our brand name. And even though every one operates in a different field we all share a single problem: a very limited budget. We came up with ”Janssen Brothers United” - one ad campaign for eleven different Janssen Brothers. By combining our budgets, we raised awareness for all Janssen Brothers at a scale that none of us could achieve individually.

By working together and combining our marketing budgets as Janssen Brothers United we achieved much more than any of us could have individually. Together, we ran a print campaign in a national newspaper, we launched a shared website and callcenter and last but not least we were able to become shirt sponsors of a football team! Our cooperation also got noticed and featured by a lot of national and international media.

The Janssen Brothers United campaign got featured on various local and international advertising blogs. A Dutch television station interviewed us; we were guests on a Dutch television talk show and a Dutch newspaper did a full-page feature on us.

We also received dozens of LinkedIn requests (even though we’re not on LinkedIn), 8 Dutch creative directors invited us over for a job interview and we even got a job offer from an ad agency in New York!

We got 74 “I’m so proud of you guys” from our mom.

And last but not least: we now have a lifelong friendship with ten other Janssen Brothers.