Learnings from ERE’s Creative Excellence Awards Webinar

Last month, Brandemix was fortunate enough to co-host the CEA awards presentation, along with ERE Editor-in-Chief Todd Raphael.

The CEAs are an award program designed to recognize outstanding achievement in recruitment advertising and marketing. Each year, recruitment ad agencies and corporate recruiting departments from around the world enter their best creative advertising campaigns. Each entry is judged by a panel of the finest creative and professional talent from across the country, of which I was one.

As context for the awards ceremony, Todd and I did some research on 2014 recruiting trends, much of it already familiar to readers of ERE, particularly John Sullivan’s illuminating articles. In case you weren’t able to attend, here are some of the important learnings you might have missed.

·      Layoffs are at their lowest level since 2001.

·      Hiring is heating up.
     
More employees quit their jobs in October than in any other month since the recession of 2007-09.

In fact, according to Dice.com, 55% of hiring managers and recruiters plan to hire more professionals in the first half of 2014 than they did in the second half of 2013 - a jump of 9% from the same period one year ago and the highest level on record since Dice first posed the hiring question in mid-2010.

Other 2014 Trends

•      Employer branding is considered the best long-term recruiting strategy, as recruiting looks more like marketing.

•      “Apply with LinkedIn,” instead of a resume, is gaining acceptance.

•       Employee referrals and social media are melding.

•       The idea of attending college is changing, and thus college recruitment marketing is changing as well.

•       A metric-driven employee referral program is becoming a dominant hiring source.

•       Boomerangs are a primary target once again.

•       Predictive metrics and the use of big data have moved from interesting to essential.

•       The mobile platform continues to be a critical tool.

When McDonald’s launched its first mobile career site in 2008, three million people visited it and 24,000 people used it to submit applications. By 2012, those figures had jumped to 30 million visits and two million applications. Now, it brings in a little over 10% of total applications.

•      Though Facebook recruiting is becoming a more significant part of the recruiting budget and a more accepted as a recruiting source, here’s a bit of advice: Keep your eyes on the next trend. Teen panelists of Ignition 2013 had these comments: 

 “I hate Facebook. It's just so boring. Now I’m an Instagram user.”

 “I used to scroll down Facebook and read every single status. Now I just love Vine.”

From the CEA submissions themselves I learned the following:

•      Augmented reality is really here. The seamless process from ads to booths and banners with QR codes or other ways to connect with smart devices has made for a totally immersive recruitment experience.

•       Website redesigns on the rise -- in fact, there were more than 50 submissions this year. Flash is out, HTML is in, and content is king.

•       As a words person, I am disappointed to see that copy is still a second-class citizen to creative. While people and pictures were front and center, copy and provocative headlines have not evolved as much.

•       The link from employer brand research to uniquely branded creative is still missing a beat. Those of you looking for DIY branding have the research part down, but take my advice: Call in a professional to do the analysis and brand architecture.    

And finally, my favorite. There is more transparency and greater detail given about the hiring and selection process, from attraction through onboarding. That's great, as recruiting comes out from behind the curtain.

Want to know more? Download the full presentation here.

New Year's Resolutions for HR and Talent Acquisition Professionals

Welcome to 2014. The economic outlook predicts that competition for talent will increase, making this one of the most challenging years for recruiting in recent memory. How can your company stand out and attract the most talented workers?

For friends of Brandemix in talent acquisition, I've analyzed some recent trends and found there are three pressing issues for recruiters in the coming year. Make one, two, or all three of these your New Year's resolutions and watch your company make better hires.

Invest in employer branding
An employer brand is the promise your company makes to employees. It communicates your vision as an organization and the employees' role in realizing it. A strong, compelling employer brand attracts top talent, retains them, and helps them perform to their best abilities. It also increases referrals, decreases turnover, and drives profits. 

The best employer brands come from research. Communications audits and anonymous surveys make a good start; employee focus groups and executive interviews are even better. From these findings, you'll discover why employees choose to work for your company, why they stay, and even why they leave. You'll learn the C-suite's long-term goals. And you'll see the company's values clearly emerge. None of this has to cost a lot of money: a basic research plan's price is around $10,000. This can be the year you make a bold statement to job-seekers and take a unique position in the job market. Download a FREE copy of our Employer Branding Strategy Guide.

Add social media to your recruiting
78% of recruiters have made a hire through social media, and 29% of job-seekers found their favorite job through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Social media is a great way to communicate your employer brand, keep your company top of mind, and engage with the most attractive job-seekers -- even passive ones. Make 2014 the year you put a significant effort into social recruiting.

Already on Facebook? Add Twitter. Already on Twitter? Take the next step to Pinterest or Instagram. Mastered those? Get on YouTube and start creating videos. Reach out to job-seekers by showing and telling how your employer brand differentiates you and you'll create a unique connection with your desired audience. Download a FREE copy of our Social Media Strategy Guide for Talent Acquisition.

Make your careers site mobile-friendly
Here are some amazing facts: 31% of searches for "jobs" come from mobile devices. But many careers sites aren't optimized for mobile -- and 65% of job-seekers will simply leave a site if it's hard to use on their mobile device; 40% will even have a negative opinion of that company. This doesn't just apply to entry-level positions, either, as 65% of applicants to executive positions use tablets.

As phone, tablets, and "phablets" become more popular, this demographic is only going to increase. If your site isn't optimized for mobile (also known as "responsive design"), you're conceding a large pool of talent to your competition. This year, it's time to not only to match your competitors but to leave them behind, with a mobile site that's clear, easy, and even fun to use.

Ready to rock 2014?
If you'd like to learn more about how Brandemix can help with your employer branding, social recruiting, or mobile websites, contact us, and one of our experts will be in touch.

I hope you and your entire recruiting team have a great year.

The Most Popular Blog Posts of 2013

As 2012 comes to a close, let's take a look back at the year’s most popular blog posts. The topics range from telling your brand story to embracing new technologies to engaging your employees. I hope these articles will help you become an employer of choice and attract top talent -- and avoid some of the biggest social media mistakes. 

Here are the BrandeBlog’s six most-read posts of 2013.

Employer Branding: Recruiters Help You Tell the Right Story

One of the biggest recruiting trends of 2014 is employer branding: the promise your company makes to its employees. And one of the biggest trends in marketing is brand storytelling: the use of content and experiences to bring your brand to life. Combining these trends can bring a powerful presence to your talent acquisition. Here's how to do it.

How to Become an Employer of Choice
A recent Gallup study found that only 47% of American workers are completely satisfied with their jobs. A MarketTools study found that 21% of employees had applied to another job in the past six months. Clearly, many employees are ready to look elsewhere for the next step in their careers. To attract the best of these workers -- and make your current employees stay with you, follow these steps to become an employer of choice. 

Create Goodwill for Your Small Business with Community Involvement

For any small business to succeed, it must build goodwill with the surrounding community. You can have Facebook fans or catalogue customers all over the world, placing orders by phone and email, but if locals aren’t walking in the door, you’re doomed. Branding your business as a “hometown hero” can make a huge impression on your customer base and serve as an important differentiator in the marketplace.

Build an Employer Brand Fortress by Integrating with Your Corporate Brand

One question that gets asked in every employer branding workshop we hold is, “Where does our employer brand fit with our corporate brand?” Some companies create an employer brand slogan that lives only within recruiting or HR. That's often against best practice, as it has no bearing on a true employer value proposition. A strong EVP is based on the unique elements of your culture and workplace, resonates with the people you would like more of, and integrates with the same value proposition to your consumer base. Integrating the two brands isn't always easy, but it's crucial to success.

Social Media PR Disasters: Applebee's Wild Night
If it's true that you can learn more from failure than from success, then there's a lot to learn from Applebee's mysterious midnight meltdown. After the restaurant chain's controversial firing of a waitress, critics took to Applebee's Facebook page to complain. In the early hours of Saturday, February 2, someone from Applebee's tried to fight back. What happened next is a perfect example of what not to do in a PR crisis.

Recruiting with Google Glass
Google's new wearable technology may change recruiting forever. Why? Because, as the economy improves and the competition for talent increases, Google Glass will allow organizations to show a job listing and a corporate culture instead of telling. From talent acquisition to employer branding, here's how this amazing visual device can be used to engage job-seekers in several new and exciting ways.

What do these posts' popularity tell us? That there a lot of people with an interest in – and a need for – social media trends, marketing, and branding. As it so happens, they are also specialties of ours! 

Want to be more popular to job-seekers, employees, and customer? Put Brandemix on your to-do list for 2014.

Thanks for reading and happy holidays.

What Do The Biggest Recruiting Breakthroughs of 2013 Mean for 2014?

It has been a big year for recruiting and employer branding. Employer are now reaching job-seekers through "SoMoClo" -- social media, mobile device, and the cloud. New technology, new services, and new philosophies are re-shaping the recruiting world.

So how will the breakthroughs of 2013 shape recruiting in 2014? Here's a rundown of some trends you should be watching. 

Gamification
Another evolving technology is gamification, adding game mechanics to a non-game activity, like recruiting. Marriott got the ball rolling with an awareness campaign, and a few other companies have used aspects of gaming in their recruiting. The trend took another step when the French postal service created a game for orientation and onboarding: it simulated getting up in the morning, eating breakfast, and dressing for work, along with mail sorting and delivery. It's only a matter of time before a bold employer fuses all these concepts together and turns the entire hiring process into a game. Who will it be?

Mobile
A recent LinkedIn survey shows that job-seekers have moved their searches to mobile devices: 72% of active job-seekers and 62% of passive candidates say they've visited a company's mobile site to learn about careers. But the survey also found that only 13% of companies have "invested adequately in making their recruiting process mobile-friendly." If you're using social media in your recruiting campaign, keep in mind that many social sites are visited from a mobile device: according to Microsoft, 50% of Twitter users access that network through a phone or tablet. I expect all these numbers to increase in 2014. Is your company ready for mobile recruiting?

Google Glass
As I recently pointed out, Google's new wearable technology, launched this year, has the potential to revolutionize recruitment videos. There's nothing more powerful to a candidate than showing them what a day working for a company is really like; Google Glass lets them virtually experience it. But that's not all. Google Glass can show candidates the recruiter's point of view -- literally! This can greatly help them prepare for the application and interview process. CEO's can also wear the device and shoot videos of their working days, providing a behind-the-scenes look at the corner office that employees and job-seekers now only dream of.

Vine/Instagram video
Speaking of video, two new short-form services launched in 2013. Twitter introduced Vine in January; Instagram added a video component six months later. For any recruiters using social media (which is most of them), these simple formats have opened up a whole world of video possibilities. With only a few seconds, very limited editing, and no graphics or effects, even a recruiter who has never made a movie in her life can now create tiny works of art and share them with job-seekers on numerous social channels. So far, I've been inspired by Manifest Digital and Aviary on Vine, and VMware on Instagram.

These trends shaped 2013 and will certainly influence 2014. At Brandemix, we're keeping close tabs on these emerging concepts and are adding them to our campaigns. If you'd like to know more about gamification, mobile recruiting, Google Glass, or short-form videos, drop me a line.

Employer Branding: Telling The Right Story

Right now, the biggest trend in recruiting is employer branding, crafting the promise your company makes to its employees. And the biggest trend in marketing is brand storytelling, using content, examples, and experiences to bring your brand to life in the mind of consumers.

Combining these trends can bring a powerful presence to your talent acquisition. But it's not always straightforward. Harnessing the best of employer branding and storytelling means sharing not only the story you want to tell but also integrating the story your best candidates want to hear.

For example, your company may have a customer-service focus -- but that's not necessarily part of a compelling employment offer. That sort of disconnection happens all the time: Many employers think that recent college graduates are concerned about the environment, but a recent NACE study showed that working for a "green" company was last on their list of desired employer qualities.

And don't mistake storytelling for content. You may have a regular blog, Pinterest boards full of photos, and a YouTube channel with lots of videos, but if none of it emotionally connects to job-seekers, you won't move the needle. As Momentum Worldwide's Jon Hamm put it in Adweek, "Audiences have always asked for stories. They've never asked for content."

To most effectively integrate storytelling with employer branding, I recommend that the HR department -- and even the C-suite -- become best friends with recruiters, because they're the ones "selling" your company and know what resonates with job-seekers. You'll have to go beyond a few casual conversations, too. Conducting independent focus groups with your recruiters allows you to marry what your company offers with what people want. It also lets you create counterpoints to what people are saying about your company "behind your back."

Another successful hire!

The result? You'll build a compelling employer value proposition that resonates with desirable workers in the job market. They'll be the right cultural fit, too, which means you'll decrease hiring times, hiring costs, and turnover while increasing retention, referrals, and productivity.

The best branding involves storytelling, and employer branding is no different. Good employer branding is easy to spot -- Southwest Airlines, Taco Bell, Deloitte. Bad employer branding...well, those companies never seem to become household names.

It just so happens that Brandemix specializes in brand research and employer branding, so we're an ideal partner for determining what top talent is hearing from your company and what they want to hear. If you'd like to stand out from your competition, I'd love to hear from you. Write to me or read about our successes on the Brandemix website.

Busting Employer Branding Myths

Considering how important employer branding is, I still encounter a lot of confusion and misinformation about it. So, as a public service, I thought I'd bust some of the myths about employer branding.

Myth #1: Employer branding is unnecessary

Some clients tell me, "We're an employer of choice; great candidates will find us." And yet you never hear executives at Apple or Disney or Coke say "Everyone knows our products; customers will find us." In fact, those brands have massive marketing budgets. You can't assume that your exact desired demographic, whether it's MIT grads or truck drivers, will actively seek you out. Or think about this: What if great candidates do know you -- and don't like what they see? Employer branding can increase awareness and engagement by refocusing your messaging on your company's mission, vision, values, and business strategy.

Myth #2: Employer branding is expensive

Good employer branding actually saves you money, through lower recruiting costs, higher engagement, and increased productivity/sales. Depending on the plan goals, a basic research project can be launched for as little as $10,000. You can start small with communication audits and internal surveys, and then add executive interviews and employee focus groups. If you can secure a larger spend, we recommend surveying external constituents to provide context to your internal findings. 

Myth #3: Employer branding is completely separate from consumer branding

It better not be! An employer brand must be absolutely aligned with and inspired by the consumer brand. After all, candidates are customers, investors, and influencers. One of the first things we do on any employer branding project is break through organizational silos and align the employer brand with the company's current messaging. We try to get all stakeholders -- Marketing, HR, Internal Communications -- into the same room to make sure we have a consistent brand that's authentic on both sides of the house. Along the way, we often help Marketing and HR become friends!

Myth #4: Employer branding research can be done in-house

It can, but it's much more difficult. Employees are reluctant to share their true feelings with their HR department for fear of reprisal. Executives interviewing each other often leads to an "echo chamber" effect, where no one advocates change. And external constituents, such as customers and former applicants, think surveys are a marketing ploy and stay away. Brandemix is a neutral third party; we take empathetic listening to the next level by listening, probing, and processing. An outside set of eyes can reveal things about your employer brand that you never saw.

Myth #5: Employer branding only helps the hiring managers

Au contraire! The entire company benefits from a strong employer brand. You'll attract employees who are a good fit for the culture, who stay longer, perform better, and recommend the company to others. More referrals and lower turnover makes for a happier, more stable workplace. HR will have more time to work on other initiatives, like workforce planning, talent management, or diversity. Eventually, you'll have weeded out the underachievers and filled your roster with satisfied employees, which studies have shown create more profit for the entire organization.

Don't let these myths fool you. Employer branding is crucial to the success of any company, from a nonprofit to a regional chain to a global corporation. It cuts costs, generates profits, and can turn your company into a true employer of choice.

Any other myths you want busted? Drop me a line.

Why Ann Loft Careers is a Social Media Superstar

The latest Jobvite survey shows how important social media has become for talent acquisition: 78% of recruiters have made a hire through social, 33% say it decreases time to hire, and 49% say it increases the quality of candidates. Most impressive is that 20% of recruiters believe social media's value is at least $90,000 a year.

Who is leading the trend in social recruiting? I'm always searching for brands that are use social channels to engage job-seekers in clever ways. Joining recent honorees Amtrak and Taco Bell is the latest Social Media Superstar: Ann Loft Careers.

This iconic fashion line is active on seven social platforms, reaching out to job-seekers with compelling and unique content. Here are some highlights.

A Facebook Page With More Content Than Some Websites
Ann Loft Careers has a very robust Facebook page. Recruiting channels for Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube each get a tab, and there are custom tabs for internships and for the company's charitable giving. On average, Ann Inc. posts twice a day, and responses to timeline questions are prompt and sincere -- one query was answered in just 12 minutes and another was answered after 9:30 at night. Best of all, there's a custom tab just for the employer brand, "Fit Is Everything," that includes the company's mission, vision, and values.

Ann Loft Careers' custom Facebook tabs

Reaching Out Through YouTube
There are 29 videos on Ann Loft Careers' YouTube channel. These brief, well-short videos show what it's like to work in a store or at corporate. Several showcase the internship program, while others explore the company's green initiatives. Ann Inc. even charges headlong into what can be a touchy topic -- the condition of the foreign workers making their clothes. But it's communicated as ResponsiblyANN: Supporting Women and shows all the company is doing to improve women's lives around the world. My favorite videos are instructive, such as The Perfect Interview Outfit and How to Apply at AnnCareers.com. 

Showing Off On Pinterest
Fashion is visual, which may may explain why Ann Loft Careers has a jaw-dropping 9,000 pins collected into 56 boards. And yet a number of boards have nothing to do with clothing. Along with boards offering great job-search advice ("Fall Interview Outfits," "Attention-Grabbing Resumes") there are some galleries that are just plain fun, such as a board devoted to breast cancer awareness month, one for Halloween treats, and one for "must-read" novels. Taken together, these boards add up to more than a look at Ann Loft Careers; they convey the Ann Inc. lifestyle. It's a brilliant way to communicate the company's culture and to help job-seekers self-select.

One of Ann Loft Careers' 56 Pinterest boards

Putting It All Together
But what if a job-seeker wants to follow all of Ann Inc.'s recruiting channels? The company's recruiting team has put together a web page like I've never seen -- a three-column live-stream of all their posts, from Instagram photos to tweets. It allows job-seekers to get a snapshot of what Ann Inc. is posting without having to follow all seven platforms. But even with all that information, the page is as clean and eye-pleasing as one of their fashion ensembles. It's like a Tumblr or Storify just for Ann Inc. talent acquisition, but it lives within anncareers.com. 

Ann Loft Careers combines authenticity with whimsy, and education with fun. It's reaching job-seekers in lots of visual ways and giving away important information on the job search and the interview process. And it aggregates all its social content into one convenient stream. It looks like Ann Inc. is in an enviable position as it prepares for its 50th anniversary in August 2014.

For all these reasons, I declare Ann Loft Careers a Social Media Superstar!

Brandemix Bonus Reel: The Important of One Brand

Jason Ginsburg, Director of Interactive Branding at Brandemix, explains why it's important for organizations to integrate their employer brands with their consumer brands -- and shows how to do it right.

To learn more about employer branding, download our free strategy guide or contact us.

One Brand: Part 2. Building a Brand Fortress Through Integrated Employer Branding

Employer branding has been heating up. According to a 2013 LinkedIn survey of recruiting trends, recruiting leaders are fearful their competitors are investing more heavily in employer branding than they are. No surprise. Employer branding done well brings in qualified candidates that are pre-sold with your organization’s mission, vision, and work rewards, making a recruiter’s job much easier. For larger organizations, having a well-articulated employer brand architecture ensures consistency or messaging- where everyone, from employees to recruiters, is singing in one voice. 

There is one question that gets asked repeatedly, in every employer branding workshop that we hold.  “But where does our employer brand fit with our corporate brand?”

It’s not unheard of for some companies to create an employer brand slogan that lives only within HR, and more specifically recruiting. Often, against best practice, it has no bearing on a true employer value proposition, one that is based upon the unique elements of your culture and workplace, resonates with the people you would like more of, and integrates with the same value proposition to your consumer base.  But this should change.

So why should you do it?

Integrating your employer brand with your corporate brand will build a brand fortress: a talented body of people working together to support the same corporate goals and achieve positive outcomes from their efforts. There are demonstrated financial rewards with having an engaged workforce of people who truly believe in what the company is trying to achieve and how they deliver on the corporate brand promise.

How can you do it?

The marketing department is your friend. Talk to them and find out what information they have on hand. You might get consumer surveys, industry trends, and if you’re really lucky, the brand book.  Along with logos, color palettes and typography, the brand book should contain the brand position of your organization, what your organization is and what it stands for.

These words and phrases sum up your company’s vision and customer promise, and might also define how the brand is brought to life. Everything you do in communication and action needs to support that statement, including your employer brand.

2013 LinkedIn Global Recruiting Survey

The consumer brand will be your guide to how your company wants people to feel about the brand and the overarching business objective you want to achieve. And that’s where the workforce enters.

Look closely at that statement. There are emotional qualities embedded within in it. “Confidence”, “passion”, “determination”, and “diligence” enjoyment may be some of the feelings it tries to evoke. Those feelings are what the employer brand has to align with.

What are the demonstrated experiences from your workplace that bring those emotions to life? What need to change, if anything, to keep those emotions true through the pre- and post-employment cycle? Think of the potential talent that you are looking to hire. Can they buy into that emotional space?  Do your business goals resonate with them, or is it simply a good job fit?  

Finding the true brand ambassadors through your employer branding will have a positive impact on culture, performance, recruitment  and retention. You’ll find after time you’ll have employees who come, stay, grow and recommend others committed to the company’s success.

And that’s the ROI of branding done right.

One Brand: Part 1. Extending Your Brand Through Internal Communications

Does internal communications matter to consumer branding?

You bet it does. Are you a retailer rolling out a brand positioning about knowledgeable salespeople helping customers navigate a myriad of product choices? Better make sure your knowledgeable salespeople stay that way.

Branding for financial services? A Forrest research report reveals that mergers and acquisitions have hurt customer relationships and advises a refocused attention on customer service. You better bring some TLC to your call centers.

What about an admired airline promising an incredible experience and having it come crashing (sorry) down when the baggage is stolen, lost, or delayed through poor handling?

While there are a variety of factors that influence public brand sentiment, your communicating to your consumer brand  to your employees is one that is easy to get right.

  

1. Roll in your brand.
 Let your employees in on the big reveal before you launch your new campaign.

2. Show the relevance. 
 Now that you have articulated your brand values internally:

• Who needs to do what differently?
• What do they need to change?

3. Communicate your brand inward

• Look at your internal communications and the audiences you reach.
• Where are the best places to infuse your positioning? 

Think about hosting a brand training event so sales people know what the customers will expect from them. Recognize and reward great customer service, and encourage testimonials from happy customers. Make sure your employees know how they are responsible for the success for your business and reap the rewards from a singular brand outside and in.

We welcome your input and are here for your help.

Brandemix Bonus Reel: Recruiting With Gamification

Jason Ginsburg, our Director of Interactive Branding, shows how companies can use game mechanics to find more, better-performing, and longer-staying employees.

Brandemix Bonus Reel: A Sneak Peek at Employer Branding Boot Camp

Jason Ginsburg, Director of Interactive Branding at Brandemix, reveals some of the lessons and insights from the upcoming free webinar, "Employer Branding Boot Camp." 

The presentation will be Wednesday, September 25, at 2 pm Eastern/11 am Pacific.

Space is still available for this fun, educational event! 

Register for free here.

Employer Branding Boot Camp: A Sneak Peek

As many of you know, I'm presenting the free webinar Employing Branding Boot Camp on September 25. It's a fun, insightful look at the power and value of a strong employer brand, filled with fun facts, case studies, and useful tips.

But I just can't wait until the 25th! I want to share a few sections from the webinar right now.

What is a brand?
A brand is a promise. Think of one of the greats: McDonald's. Their brand promises not only quick, inexpensive food, but also that their French fries will taste the same at every one of their locations in the world.

A brand is also an emotional connection that goes beyond the product itself. Consider the "cult" of Apple users, or clubs for Ford Mustang owners, or lovers of Nutella. Even if there are better products out there, these fans have a personal relationship with everything the brand symbolizes.

Interbrand ranks the value of global brands every year. For 2012, the #1 brand is once again Coca-Cola, with a value of $77.8 billion. That means that if you took away all the brand's assets -- from the factories to the bottles to the actual soda itself -- just the name and logo of Coke would be worth almost $80 billion. 

Compare that to Pepsi, #22 on Interbrand's list, with a brand value of $16.6 billion. I think we can agree that Coke and Pepsi, as soft drinks, are pretty much the same thing. And yet there's a $60 billion difference in the way people respond to their brands. 

What is a employer brand?
An employer brand is the promise you make to employees, from first-time applicants to retirees, and from entry-level positions to the CEO. In the same way that emotion persuades consumers to choose Coke over Pepsi, your employer brand persuades job-seekers to join your company over all the others -- even companies that might pay better or have "fun" reputations, like Google.

An employer brand differentiates your organization in the job market. It encompasses your vision, values, culture, and mission statement. It informs new hires so that they know what to expect when they join your team and increases the odds that they're a good fit. It gets reinforced by the HR and internal communications departments, which reflect the brand in all their messaging.

Image from NAS Recruitment Communications

And this isn't just to create a happy workplace, though that's one of the results; there are real business reasons for a strong employer brand. It leads to more, and higher quality, applications. It decreases time to hire and cost per hire. It produces referrals and unsolicited resumes. And it ensures that the people you hire stay with your company and perform well.

Ready to learn more? Sign up for Employer Branding Boot Camp while space is still available. If you can't make it on September 25, download our free Employer Branding Strategy Guide to start improving your recruitment communications and attracting top talent.

Facebook vs. LinkedIn: Two Years Later

The Backstory 

2 years ago I wrote a polarizing blog about why I believed that within 2 years, Facebook would destroy LinkedIn as the best place for recruiting talent into an organization. Today, I concede my timing may have been off. But was I wrong?

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

The Backlash

Hear Brandemix Director of Interactive Branding face off against The Recruiting Animal. 

August 21 at 12pm EDT

Show your support by tuning in, calling in, and weighing in.

 Jody

Brandemix Bonus Reel: Recruiting with Google Glass

Jason Ginsburg, Director of Interactive Branding at Brandemix, shows how Google Glass offers exciting ways for recruiters to connect with job-seekers.

Creating a Competitive Advantage in the Retail Space

No retailer wants to be “just another [your product] store.” But how can you stand out? Every business has at least competitive advantage, some positive quality that sets it apart in the marketplace. For example:

McDonald’s competitive advantage is convenience; a restaurant location is never far away and the food is inexpensive.

Keens Steakhouse’s competitive advantage is quality; its single Manhattan location isn’t convenient, and the prices aren’t low, but it’s consistently ranked as one of the best restaurants in the city.

Outback Steakhouse’s competitive advantage is price; you can get a six-ounce sirloin steak there for $10.

So how do you determine your store’s competitive advantage?

First, you’ll need market intelligence. That includes discovering what your customers want, what they’re willing to pay, and what needs they have that aren’t being fulfilled. That information can be gathered from studies and trade magazines, or by directly surveying your customers.

Next comes competitive intelligence. What is the competition offering? What is attracting their customers to them instead of you? What are their strengths and weaknesses? These findings will help you determine what separates you from the rest of the marketplace; the positive differences can become your competitive advantages.

"Investigate" your competition to determine your competitive advantages.

The strongest competitive advantages have these qualities:

Rare

Whether it’s unique merchandise or a fun policy (like The Disney Store’s “You break it, you don’t have to buy it” rule), a true advantage must be uncommon among your competitors.

Valuable

Small differences don’t matter. If your competitive advantage saves customers money or makes their visit more pleasant, they’ll definitely notice.

Hard to Copy

If your competitors can easily duplicate what you’re doing, it won’t remain an advantage for very long.

Sustainable

“Buy One, Get Three Free” would probably result in customers rushing to your store. But then what? An offer like that can’t last long. Make sure your advantage is a true change in policy, procedure, or philosophy, and not a short-term gimmick.

Even if you can’t provide the finest products or the lowest price, there’s one simple and effective way to stand out: the customer experience. That means making the customer feel valued while in the store, handling complaints and returns with ease, and reaching out to the customers afterwards to get their feedback or offer discounts. Studies have shown that our happiest memories are tied to experiences, not possessions, so it’s possible that the experience of buying your products is more important than the products themselves.

The customer experience includes tech support and customer service, too!

“Simple” doesn’t mean “easy,” however. Creating a great customer experience means training employees differently and offering them incentives for great service. It may mean operational changes to make sure complaints and exchanges are made as hassle-free as possible. It might also mean expanding the job responsibilities of your HR or marketing teams to oversee all these improvements.

How will you when you’ve succeeded? Luckily, it’s easy to measure your store’s competitive advantage. Sales volume, same-store sales, and customer traffic are all straightforward metrics. You may also see more chatter – or at lest more positive chatter – on social networks, as customers share their experiences and write happy reviews.

Your retail store is unique, with advantages over your competitors. Once you discover those advantages, emphasize them, and make them part of your brand, you’ll reap the benefits.

Recruiting with Google Glass

I don't say this very often, but it's possible that recruiting is going to change forever, thanks to the "wearable visual technology" known as Google Glass.

Why? Because, as the economy improves and the competition for talent increases, Google Glass will allow organizations to show a job listing and a corporate culture instead of telling. From talent acquisition to employer brand, this technology can be used to engage job-seekers in several new and exciting ways:

 

A Day in the Life of an Employee
What does, say, an "associate director of strategic communications" actually do? A job posting for a position like that will likely have a long list of "Responsibilities," "Requirements," and "Qualifications." But pictures can be worth a thousand words. Instead of a confusing job title followed by a page of unexciting text, companies can allow an employee to shoot a video of their daily routine using Google Glass. Job-seekers could see all the interesting, challenging, unexpected aspects of the job, which might not come across in a listing. A first-person video allows job-seekers to envision themselves working for the organization, a very powerful experience.

Meet Your Recruiter
Some brands, like Taco Bell, showcase their recruiters, putting a human face on what can be an intimidating process. Google Glass will let companies take that strategy to the next level, by showing what daily life is like for a recruiter. Job-seekers will get a behind-the-scenes look at the application and interview experience, seeing where to park, how employees dress, what the interview room looks like -- even where the restrooms are. This sort of advance knowledge does wonders for nervous applicants who usually have no idea what to expect at an interview.

Your recruiter in her "natural habitat"!

Inside the C-Suite
At Brandemix, we sometimes have the pleasure of producing company videos that star the CEO. But not all business leaders are comfortable with the spotlight. Google Glass can put camera-shy executives at ease by letting them wear the camera! Job-seekers love sneak peeks and inside information, so the unprecedented access allowed by a CEO wearing Google Glass is sure to be a hit. And the executive doesn't have to take time out of her day to recite lines under hot studio lights. Everybody wins.

Welcome to the Neighborhood
Some employers, like Ann Inc., make a point of showing off their office's neighborhood. Google Glass gives employers a chance to move beyond photos. Videos can show what restaurants are nearby, how easy the commute is, and area secrets that only locals know. If job-seekers perceive a company's location as a disadvantage, a Google Glass video can be an effective way to change their minds.

Ann Inc.'s "NYC Office Guide" board on Pinterest

As you can see, Google Glass can have a major effect on recruiting for any employers who adapt it early and use it wisely. After all, many people, including job-seekers, would rather watch than read. If your office is lovely and your employees are friendly, you should show them off! 

Want to learn more about Google Glass and other innovative talent acquisition strategies? Write to us.