The 5 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 evaluate consumer brands before making a purchase - you're missing a trick if brand is not a big focus in 2017.

When you sit down to define your brand strategy for this year and beyond, you'll need ammunition and ideas for the meeting. Here are 5 companies that have all run great Employer Branding campaigns that you can use for inspiration...

1. Heineken

Crafted over 1 and a half years, Heineken's recent recruiting advert has grabbed headlines and critical acclaim in equal portions.

The video forms a central part of the company's "Go Places" campaign that invites talent to respond to a series of questions, all of which must 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 isn't just designed to cause a stir, it's a manifesto for potential new hires. Heineken want to demonstrate that their brand revolves around the personality and ambitions of their employees, some of whom feature 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 brand video.

2. Foundation Medicine

If you don't have the resources of a company like Heineken, Foundation Medicine's simpler Employer Branding campaign could be a more relevant example to follow.

Foundation Medicine's Employer Branding campaign leverages employee stories and social channels to try to appeal to candidates that could be researching the company online.

The #uniquelyFMI campaign makes it clear that employees care about their mission at Foundation Medicine and are committed to providing personalized and unique treatment to cancer patients. Coupled with social media engagement around their hashtag, this has all the hallmarks of a clever branding campaign.

3. GE

GE (General Electric) is one of the world's most longstanding companies (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 publicise their Employer Brand.

GE is repositioning itself as a digital company, and needs to attract the talent that makes this kind of 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" an increasingly important consideration for candidates evaluating job opportunities, this Employer Branding campaign hits all the right notes.

4. Samuel Adams

Our second beer company to feature 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.

Their campaign is full of real employees who are passionate about the beer they're creating, and eager to connect their beer with craft beer lovers across the country.

The work culture is clear: "We bring our best friends to work. We treat every day like casual Friday." This sentence alone appeals to the exact candidate persona that Samuel Adams is looking for...

5. Google

Often acknowledged as having the world's strongest Employer Brand, it's probably not a surprise to see Google on a list like this.

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 hired…

We have some bad news though: it's unlikely that you'll be able to replicate Google's Employer Branding campaign unless you've caught the interest of Hollywood...

The recent film 'The Internship' features many real "Googlers" as extras, (including founder Sergey Brin), and highlights many of the company's popular workplace quirks on the big stage. When it comes to Employer Brand, more (positive) publicity is never a bad thing and 'The Internship' provides plenty of positive exposure.

Building your Employer Brand is only one part of a successful recruiting strategy. If you're looking for other tactics and tools to improve your team's recruiting results, take a look at the Beamery Academy. It's stuffed full of actionable ebooks, courses and whitepapers that will help you take your team to the next level.