In an increasingly competitive job market, a strategy for employer branding positive is essential, positioning and promoting your brand to the best candidates.
According to Beamery, 59% of employers say that the employer branding is one of the key factors in your overall HR strategy. That's why more and more companies are choosing to invest in HR strategies.
- Heineken
The people behind brewing company Heineken did not achieve overnight success, and they know they need to work to maintain the company's international reputation.
That is why they created their now famous campaign "Go Places" in 2016, and updated it with the "Go Places 2.0" version in 2019. This involved a series of videos with the stories of current Heineken employees, in a variety of roles and locations. The intention, and effect, of the campaign was to show that the brand revolves around the unique personalities and ambitions of its employees.
However, the campaign is not limited to employee videos. The brand's website features an interactive digital interview where the interviewer asks you 12 questions, while providing facts about the company. This interview verifies integration with the culture and introduces the candidate to the company. Once completed, candidates receive a personal profile, such as "pioneer" or "researcher" and are invited to apply with their CV and LinkedIn profile.
The results show that this employer branding was more than just a fun action. According to Marketing Week, Heineken saw a 56% increase in applications during its 2016 campaign.
- General Electric
One of the world's oldest electricity companies, General Electric (GE) has repositioned itself as a digital company with its employer branding strategy. It did so with a series of timely and modern announcements.
Shaunda Zilich, former head of employer branding of GE, explains: "For the last two years, we've said we don't want to be just an industrial company, but a digital industrial company." The ads used were aimed at trying to make the public perceive the brand as something different.
One such video was entitled "What if Millie Dresselhaus, Female Scientist, Was Treated Like a Celebrity". It was launched to announce GE's goal of employing 20,000 women in technical roles by 2020.
The video was released during the 2017 Oscars ceremony, resulting in hundreds of thousands of people using social media to discuss it. GE even added a hashtag at the end of the video (#BalanceTheEquation) to boost engagement, which could also be used to track the video's performance.
- L'Oréal
L'Oréal is consistently named as one of the best companies to work for globally. This is due to extensive campaigns and the use of employer branding techniques.
Notably, the company created a employer value proposition (EVP), i.e. the values and cultures they embody and offer to their employees. The brand formulated a new EVP in 2012, soliciting input from its current employees. This resulted in the slogan "an exciting experience, a culture of excellence" as well as EVP pillars: an exciting experience; an inspiring company; a school of excellence.
According to Zvi Goldfarb, previous head of L'Oréal's Talent Digital Lab, the company's success with the employer branding comes from a simple principle: "Make the right content available, to the right audience, at the right time".
L'Oréal has proven its ability to realize this goal across various digital platforms, from YouTube to Flipboard. According to CareerBuilder, 70% of its LinkedIn followers are interested in applying for a job at the brand, which has more than 1.8 million followers on its website.