Employer branding: Is appearance really everything?


Craft beers and private jets – this company has taken the idea of employer branding to the next level. But is it necessary to go that far?

Appearances are important. Just ask this Australian business, audio visual company Scene Change, which has gone to interesting new lengths in order to lure and retain employees. The company claims a turnover rate of less than one per cent, so what is their “secret”?

“From the start we did campaigns that were pretty out there like investing a year’s marketing budget in co-owning a private jet that we only used once, which created insane word-of-mouth,” says Ian Whitworth, co-founder of Scene Change.

“We launched a beer and cider brand purely as a promo exercise that we served up at a conference we attended and ended up getting more publicity than the official sponsors of the event.”

In fact, image was a part of the company’s mantra from the get go. “Scene Change was formed when six staff of our staff decided to jump ship from a competitor that had just done a rebrand the staff didn’t like. They didn’t even ask about their salary, they basically joined us so they could drive black vans with chrome wheels,” he says.

While these ploys may be at the extreme end of the spectrum, the company also invests in top-end technology to impress staff and clients alike.

“It can be as simple as buying staff new, high-spec laptops, because the sort of laptop people pull out in a client meeting is as much a part of a company’s brand as its ads,” says Whitworth.

“A new laptop is under $3,000, and your staff feel great.”

Brand credibility

In today’s increasingly competitive market, it’s more important than ever for employers to match their brand perception with reality.

A recent study The employer brand credibility gap: bridging the divide by Weber Shandwick and KRC Research shows, however, that perception and reality are often unaligned.

Only 19 per cent of respondents strongly agreed that the image of their employer matched with reality, while seven per cent strongly disagreed. It’s the significant gap in the middle (74 per cent) that’s interesting, a large swath of employees are not strongly swayed either way.

This is important because employers need to persuade this sizeable portion that their organisation is indeed credible and great to work for. Aligned employees are very valuable, says research. A large percentage (76) of aligned employees would recommend their employer as a good place to work, and 77 per cent would likely stick around in their job for another year.

A good employer story

How can organisations position themselves to attract top talent? It’s not all about private jets and beer.

Strengthening employer perception from within is a good place to start. Take Siemens as an example. The German communications conglomerate was struggling to position itself as “sexy” in a playing field with the likes of Google and Apple.

The company has been using technology such as VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) to create short employee documentaries to stimulate interest and engagement, which are accessible via a signature app.

“We use VR because it is very immersive so it creates intimacy and we wanted to invite people to experience what it’s like to work at Siemens – every employee that uses the Siemens app is given a Google Cardboard,” says Vice President of employer branding, Rosa Riera,

“By focusing so much on our employees, we know they talk to their friends and family so this is an important element that we find incredibly relevant. VR and AR are still technologies that a lot of people haven’t experienced yet, so being able to play with them at home also grows the interest in the brand.”

Creating a unique event or offering something unusual to employees will organically get them to talk to potential candidates about your organisation in a positive way. The thing you’re offering could be anything from a cheap but fun Christmas in July lunch, to a workplace giving program.

The tactic appears to be strengthening the Siemens brand perception, with a 67 per cent increase in the average time spent on the company’s jobs and career site.


Learn how to align attraction and retention strategies with your business objectives in the AHRI short course ‘Attracting and retaining talent’.

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Lee Seymour
Lee Seymour
5 years ago

Interesting read from HRM Online. Benefits and branding don’t replace culture. Kayaks, electric cars, lunches and sleep pods might work in the Silicon Valley but in other regions, including Australia, it’s not enough. People leave jobs because of the people around them, not because of the company. Professionals want more pay and flexibility, rather than new ways of living their lives in the office. As a business your number one priority still has to be paying people well and on time. No matter how many planes you have, if payroll is late any goodwill is wasted. Being more human is… Read more »

Sophia Addison
Sophia Addison
5 years ago

Employees like feeling wanted. Otherwise it’s just like being paid to watch paint dry. After a while you would want to go somewhere else. Maybe not company can be a Scene Change but smaller motivational breaks can certain break the clutter. And you feel like you are at the right place with people in sync.

Phil Turss
Phil Turss
5 years ago

Marketing benefits can be a hook for some people, particularly in their early years of employment, but factors like how they are paid and how they are treated as people are more important, particularly the latter, in regards to keeping top employees. The opportunity to grow and obtain promotional opportunities ultimately outlive benefits, which are generally more about perception than reality.

More on HRM

Employer branding: Is appearance really everything?


Craft beers and private jets – this company has taken the idea of employer branding to the next level. But is it necessary to go that far?

Appearances are important. Just ask this Australian business, audio visual company Scene Change, which has gone to interesting new lengths in order to lure and retain employees. The company claims a turnover rate of less than one per cent, so what is their “secret”?

“From the start we did campaigns that were pretty out there like investing a year’s marketing budget in co-owning a private jet that we only used once, which created insane word-of-mouth,” says Ian Whitworth, co-founder of Scene Change.

“We launched a beer and cider brand purely as a promo exercise that we served up at a conference we attended and ended up getting more publicity than the official sponsors of the event.”

In fact, image was a part of the company’s mantra from the get go. “Scene Change was formed when six staff of our staff decided to jump ship from a competitor that had just done a rebrand the staff didn’t like. They didn’t even ask about their salary, they basically joined us so they could drive black vans with chrome wheels,” he says.

While these ploys may be at the extreme end of the spectrum, the company also invests in top-end technology to impress staff and clients alike.

“It can be as simple as buying staff new, high-spec laptops, because the sort of laptop people pull out in a client meeting is as much a part of a company’s brand as its ads,” says Whitworth.

“A new laptop is under $3,000, and your staff feel great.”

Brand credibility

In today’s increasingly competitive market, it’s more important than ever for employers to match their brand perception with reality.

A recent study The employer brand credibility gap: bridging the divide by Weber Shandwick and KRC Research shows, however, that perception and reality are often unaligned.

Only 19 per cent of respondents strongly agreed that the image of their employer matched with reality, while seven per cent strongly disagreed. It’s the significant gap in the middle (74 per cent) that’s interesting, a large swath of employees are not strongly swayed either way.

This is important because employers need to persuade this sizeable portion that their organisation is indeed credible and great to work for. Aligned employees are very valuable, says research. A large percentage (76) of aligned employees would recommend their employer as a good place to work, and 77 per cent would likely stick around in their job for another year.

A good employer story

How can organisations position themselves to attract top talent? It’s not all about private jets and beer.

Strengthening employer perception from within is a good place to start. Take Siemens as an example. The German communications conglomerate was struggling to position itself as “sexy” in a playing field with the likes of Google and Apple.

The company has been using technology such as VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) to create short employee documentaries to stimulate interest and engagement, which are accessible via a signature app.

“We use VR because it is very immersive so it creates intimacy and we wanted to invite people to experience what it’s like to work at Siemens – every employee that uses the Siemens app is given a Google Cardboard,” says Vice President of employer branding, Rosa Riera,

“By focusing so much on our employees, we know they talk to their friends and family so this is an important element that we find incredibly relevant. VR and AR are still technologies that a lot of people haven’t experienced yet, so being able to play with them at home also grows the interest in the brand.”

Creating a unique event or offering something unusual to employees will organically get them to talk to potential candidates about your organisation in a positive way. The thing you’re offering could be anything from a cheap but fun Christmas in July lunch, to a workplace giving program.

The tactic appears to be strengthening the Siemens brand perception, with a 67 per cent increase in the average time spent on the company’s jobs and career site.


Learn how to align attraction and retention strategies with your business objectives in the AHRI short course ‘Attracting and retaining talent’.

Subscribe to receive comments
Notify me of
guest

3 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Lee Seymour
Lee Seymour
5 years ago

Interesting read from HRM Online. Benefits and branding don’t replace culture. Kayaks, electric cars, lunches and sleep pods might work in the Silicon Valley but in other regions, including Australia, it’s not enough. People leave jobs because of the people around them, not because of the company. Professionals want more pay and flexibility, rather than new ways of living their lives in the office. As a business your number one priority still has to be paying people well and on time. No matter how many planes you have, if payroll is late any goodwill is wasted. Being more human is… Read more »

Sophia Addison
Sophia Addison
5 years ago

Employees like feeling wanted. Otherwise it’s just like being paid to watch paint dry. After a while you would want to go somewhere else. Maybe not company can be a Scene Change but smaller motivational breaks can certain break the clutter. And you feel like you are at the right place with people in sync.

Phil Turss
Phil Turss
5 years ago

Marketing benefits can be a hook for some people, particularly in their early years of employment, but factors like how they are paid and how they are treated as people are more important, particularly the latter, in regards to keeping top employees. The opportunity to grow and obtain promotional opportunities ultimately outlive benefits, which are generally more about perception than reality.

More on HRM