In every way the Apple of my eye
An “Apple” video positioning the company as a place to work was being discussed on one of the LinkedIn groups a while ago. For a moment the members seemed to have forgotten that was a recruitment ad as comments were abundantly eulogizing the company products; in other words, their experiences of the company as customers and users
During the course of discussions, at some point, a more objective view emerged and an observation was made that the video did not reflect the core values the corporate brand stood for. For a brand that has ‘Amazed the World’ consistently over time with its product portfolio, the employer brand communication failed to ‘amaze’. It was like many ‘run of the mill’ recruitment videos; a commentary by current employees saying this and that about how great it was to be part of the big and pioneering Apple.
image of employer branding strategy by carpediem, Bangalore
One hears about the link between or what is often called the cause-effect of the corporate brand on the employer brand. In this case, for a corporate brand that has astonished, dared, broken format in product and communication; the same brand attributes are expected to reflect in the employer brand communication. When that is missing, it creates dissonance for the viewer.
So are the core brand values being translated into the communication designed for employees and potential recruits? Does the same advertising firm that builds the corporate identity and brand also manage employer brand communication for seamlessness? Is the marketing function closely involved in this exercise?
The corporate and employer brand have a zone of overlap and hence given the lineage in some ways they need to look and behave similarly. Here is an Ikea ad that shows a novel marketing strategy for attracting employees, totally reflecting the core brand ethos that is Ikea. Enjoy!