In 2006, Apple ran its Get a Mac advertising campaign. It featured a series of short video ads in which two men – one called “Mac” and the other called “PC” – good-naturedly argued over which product is “better.” The entertaining and often-times hilarious campaign helped shape Apple’s reputation with consumers. Moreover these ads, which aired in the pre i-product era, also set the stage for building Apple’s now-famous brand persona.
Your brand persona is a representation of your company’s personality. Whether it is person, character, or mascot, your brand persona can showcase the brand in a positive light. It can help the brand connect with its target audience, establish trust with them, and influence their perceptions whenever they interact with your products, content, or people.
A memorable and compelling brand persona can also strengthen your employer brand. Here’s what you should know about how your brand persona can influence and strengthen your employer brand.
It Humanizes Your Employer Brand
One of the reasons Apple’s Get a Mac campaign was so successful is because it communicated Apple’s brand persona and humanized both Apple the brand and Mac the product. Your brand persona can do the same for your employer brand. Suppose your employer brand is a person. If this brand persona met a future employee, what impression would it make? What will it say about your employer brand? Does it make people curious to know more about the employer brand?
A human-oriented employer brand leaves people with a positive perception about the company. It generates curiosity and a desire to know more about the employer brand. It also communicates the values and behaviors that the company believes in and promotes. All of these qualities can strengthen the employer brand and its presence in the employment market.
It Communicates Your Employer Brand’s Beliefs and Values
Your brand persona can communicate your employer brand’s beliefs and values. It can reflect the kind of culture you are trying to create and the experiences you want to deliver to each employee. It can also indicate the brand’s ambitions and put a “face” to the personality of its founders and leaders. All of these things matter to today’s employees.
When people look at your employer brand, they want to know what the company believes in and what it values. They will also check if these values align with their own values. Only then will they apply to work for your company. If there are mismatches or if they are not convinced about the experiences they will likely have as employees, they will be reluctant to join you.
On the other hand, an appealing brand persona tells people that aligning themselves with the company could bring them numerous benefits. The more people that are convinced of these benefits, the more attractive the employer brand will be in the hyper-competitive employment market.
It Generates Trust By Encapsulating the Brand’s Most Desirable Traits
The Great Resignation has made two things about the modern employee very clear: they want more out of life than a dead-end job and they don’t trust their employers as much as they used to. Today’s employees want to work for companies that care about their health and well-being. They want work-life balance, safe workspaces, and flexible timings. They also want to be treated fairly and with respect. More importantly, they are willing to sever ties with their employers if the employer cannot meet these needs.
An authentic brand persona that communicates sincerity, fairness, equity, approachability, creativity, and other desirable traits tells people that the company cares about them as humans, not just as money-making machines. It shows that the firm values them and is willing to go the extra mile to meet their needs. All of this can help establish trust with employees and build long-term relationships with them. The company can also garner their loyalty, which will make a huge impact on employee engagement, motivation, and retention.
It Makes the Employer Brand Stand Out in a Competitive Employment Market
Today’s employment market is a candidate’s market. Talented and skilled employees can pick and choose the company they want to work for. In an era when firms are competing with each other for top talent, employer brands can influence candidates’ perceptions of those firms. These perceptions in turn influence candidates’ decisions to work for Company A instead of Company B.
A unique and attractive brand persona can lend some of its cachet to the employer brand. People want to be associated with the Apples and McDonald’s of the world because they have such compelling brand personas. These personas don’t just attract customers; they also attract talent. This is because their personas stick in the minds of people and differentiate these companies – and their employer brands – from their competitors. The persona is also an external representation of the company’s culture, another factor that makes the employer brand stand out and attract the best talent.
Conclusion
The world is full of companies vying for the attention of talented workers. At times it feels as if the talent pool is shrinking by the day. This is not necessarily true. But what is true is that it’s not easy to attract talent, much less compel them to stick with the company for the long term. The good news is that you can do both – if you have a strong employer brand. And you can get this valuable asset by creating a compelling and authentic brand persona that will not only strengthen your employer brand, but also bring it into the limelight.
Of course, building a brand persona and employer brand can take time and patience. It also requires the support and advice of experts. Ergode can help you translate your vision and ideas into a powerful brand persona and a valuable employer brand. Contact us to get started.
