Employer branding A no-nonsense approach - CIPD

The medium is the message seek?’ The second is slightly more complex, but
Technology has resulted in an explosion of channels equally important: ‘Which channels will not just give
through which you can establish your brand and me access to the communities I seek but will also
communicate its message. Digital radio gives you
affordable access to almost any minority community
provide, in themselves, expressions of the brand?’
you can think of. Podcasts put you and your brand in Being seen to be using certain channels will, ipso
touch with people on the move. Web banners can drive facto, say something – actually, say plenty – about
people to your own website. Cinema advertising, your brand. Using SMS text messaging will not just get
targeting specific films in specific locations, is no longer your recruitment message through to a younger
the stuff of dreams. And owners of traditional media audience, it will help establish your brand as
have responded to the digital challenge with their own something credible and cool. If creativity is one of your
innovations, their own deals. brand attributes, being seen to use radical, offbeat
communications channels – like projecting your
Clearly, there are some amazing opportunities out message on the side of a high-rise building – will
there. But how do you know which ones to take? And convince people of your organisation’s creative
can the brand help you choose? credentials. If you want to come across as a highly
competitive, macho commercial enterprise, carry
The first question to ask as you survey the multifarious your recruitment message to your competitors by
channels available to you is: ‘Which of these will give a deliberately provocative billboard right outside
me affordable, effective access to the audiences I their offices.
Diesel: communications channels to match the brand
Diesel was founded in 1978 and has grown to become one of the world’s truly global fashion brands.
The tagline ‘For successful living’ encapsulates a single brand focus and people at Diesel are keen to spell
out how, for them, there is no separation of employer branding from consumer branding: there is just
one, unified Diesel brand, stemming from the vision of founder Renzo Rosso.
The brand is ‘unique’. It’s one of choice, rather than utility and Tim Pointer, recently appointed HR
Director, feels that the staff who choose to work at Diesel do so because of their strong affinity with the
company’s clothes and attitude, which means that the business is often recruiting from among its
passionate consumers, rather than those who are simply looking for a good job in fashion retail.
In design and merchandising disciplines, Diesel receives a lot of unsolicited interest, as the firm is a
natural destination for many people with these skillsets. But when setting out to recruit people for the
retail network, the HR team works closely with the trade and retail marketing team to create in-store and
advertised candidate generation campaigns that are seamlessly linked to the current collection and the
theme (always current and sometimes controversial) that supports it.
The opening of Diesel’s flagship store in Bond Street saw promotion in the London press and in-store
flyers lead to some 3,000 people expressing an interest in retail roles. Around 150 of these were invited
to a branded event held in a premium London venue, where everything was themed in the season’s
oriental style, with cushions, screens and water gardens installed around ten separate interview areas to
ensure the ultimate branded candidate experience.
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Employer branding