The 4 Most Unique Employer Branding Campaigns

To compete for the best talent, some companies are pulling out all of the stops with their employer branding campaigns.

Job seekers are judging your talent brand with the same scrutiny as customers evaluating consumer brands before making a purchase — you’re missing the mark if your employer brand is not a strategic focus.

When you sit down to define your brand strategy for this year and beyond, you’ll need to have ammunition and ideas ready for the meeting. Here are four companies that have all run very successful employer branding campaigns that you can use as inspiration...

1. Heineken

Crafted over the course of one and a half years, Heineken’s recruiting advert grabbed headlines and critical acclaim in equal portions.

The video formed a central part of the company’s “Go Places” campaign that invited talent to respond to a series of questions, all of which had to be answered in three to five seconds. Based on the Enneagram model (a tactic to measure personality), the results give you a personal profile, which must be sent along with your résumé when applying for your dream gig at Heineken.

Heineken’s employer branding campaign wasn’t just designed to cause a stir — it was a manifesto for potential new hires. Heineken wanted to demonstrate that their brand revolves around the personality and ambitions of their employees, some of whom are featured in the video.

If you have a keen eye for detail, you’ll spot that the video is full of carefully placed localizations — depending on where you watch the video, you’ll see different beer and foods featured.

In short, it’s clever and funny, and worth watching for any teams interested in creating a strong brand video to attract your ideal candidates

2. GE

GE (General Electric) is one of the world’s longest standing businesses (they were one of the original 12 companies listed when the Dow Jones formed in 1896). They’re probably not the first company you’d expect to create an amusing series of commercials to publicize their employer brand.

Through these ads, GE was repositioning itself as a digital company. They needed to attract the right talent that would help make this kind of fundamental transition possible.

The adverts send a clear message: applicants to GE should be motivated by valuable, cutting edge work. If this isn’t what drives you, maybe GE isn’t the place for you.

With “company mission” becoming an increasingly important consideration for candidates evaluating job opportunities, this employer branding campaign hits all the right notes for today’s top talent.

3. Samuel Adams

Our second beer company featured on this list, Samuel Adams makes the cut thanks to a really authentic employer branding campaign that highlights the exact work culture you could expect if you joined the team.

Their campaign is full of real employees who are passionate about the product they’re creating, and are eager to connect Samuel Adams beer with craft beer enthusiasts across the country.

The work culture is made clear through their employer branding: “We have a dog-friendly workplace and casual dress code.” This sentence alone appeals to the exact candidate persona that Samuel Adams is looking for.

4. Google

Often acknowledged as having the world’s strongest and most well-known employer brand, it’s probably not a surprise to see Google on this list.

The technology titan has nailed talent attraction, receiving over 3 million high-quality applicants each year! Only 7000 are hired, which gives candidates a 0.2% chance of getting the job…

And it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to replicate Google’s employer branding campaign unless you’ve caught the interest of Hollywood film makers.

The film ‘The Internship’ features many real “Googlers” as extras, (including founder Sergey Brin), and highlights many of the company’s popular workplace quirks and perks on the big stage. When it comes to employer branding, more (positive) publicity is never a bad thing and “The Internship” provides plenty of positive exposure for Google.

Building your employer brand is only one part of a successful and scalable recruiting strategy. If you’re looking for other tactics and tools to improve your team’s recruiting results, take a look at The Definitive Guide to Recruitment Marketing. It’s full of actionable steps to help your recruiters and sourcers attract top talent, and also teaches HR leaders how to build a business case for recruitment marketing — everything you need to take your recruiting strategy to the next level.