Employment Branding Is Dead
Sorry – I couldn’t resist the dramatic title for today’s post. But it’s true. Employment branding as we know it is gone. So is consumer branding. They are being merged together to create one company brand. A brand that will be used to attract and retain customers, candidates, and employees.
Some might argue that their organization already has one brand. But under that one brand, the organization creates specific marketing materials to attract customers. And specific collateral to attract candidates. Also, some organizations create marketing stuff for employees like t-shirts, etc. It promotes the company and instills pride.
One of my big takeaways from this year’s Great Place to Work conference was the move away from that type of one brand with three different types of marketing collateral. Organizations are creating a single brand and integrating all of their messaging into their marketing collateral. A terrific example is this video from GoDaddy.
If I’m a customer, I know exactly how GoDaddy is going to support me and my business. If I’m a candidate, I understand the GoDaddy culture – the everyday hard work that’s expected to keep customers’ business dreams alive. And if I’m an employee, I’m proud to be a part of that success. One brand. One video. For multiple audiences.
To help build this winning message, I saw human resources and marketing attendees from the same organizations attending sessions and comparing notes during the conference. There was a tremendous amount of cross functional collaboration on how organizations should convey one brand. Not “here’s what we can do for customers” and “here’s what we can do for candidates.”
We’ve talked in the past about how human resources needs to adopt a marketing mindset. It was exciting to talk with some marketing professionals who were trying to adopt the HR mindset. Think of the possibilities when it comes to resource sharing and communication.
It’s going to be a challenge to blend messaging, but I believe it can be done. When it works, it will elevate the entire organization. Because, like in the GoDaddy video, everyone sees how they fit. That’s what engagement is all about – engaging customers, candidates, and employees.
GoDaddy video used with permission
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