Proceedings: Conference on Corporate Communication 2012 Page 1
Proceedings: Conference on Corporate Communication 2012 Page 1
Proceedings: Conference on Corporate Communication 2012 Page 1
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
The Varied Roles of Stakeholders Initiating Digital, Humor-based<br />
Employer Brand Communicati<strong>on</strong><br />
The Perspective of a Start-up Company<br />
Eeva-Liisa Oikarinen & Saila Saraniemi<br />
Department of Marketing<br />
Oulu Business School<br />
University of Oulu, Finland<br />
eeva-liisa.oikarinen@oulu.fi & saila.saraniemi@oulu.fi<br />
The purpose of this study is to describe the varied roles of stakeholders in a humor-based<br />
employer branding process initiated by viral recruitment advertising. The nature of viral<br />
advertising in the particular c<strong>on</strong>text of digital recruitment advertising is rarely studied. The<br />
study’s methodological approach involves qualitative c<strong>on</strong>tent analysis with textual data. Data<br />
were gathered from discussi<strong>on</strong> forums, blog writings and email c<strong>on</strong>tacts with stakeholders during<br />
17 days viral spreading of recruiting advertisement. Our findings dem<strong>on</strong>strate certain roles that<br />
stakeholders can take during the viral advertising process and thus emphasize their role in humorbased<br />
employer branding. The findings also suggest that utilizing viral forms of humorous<br />
recruitment advertising is an unc<strong>on</strong>venti<strong>on</strong>al but a powerful managerial branding tool. As such,<br />
the described approaches are especially suitable for start-up companies and creative high-tech<br />
industries in an early phase of their stakeholder dialogue.<br />
Keywords: Employer branding, Viral recruitment advertising, Role of stakeholder, Humor<br />
Paper type: Case study<br />
Abstracts of <str<strong>on</strong>g>C<strong>on</strong>ference</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Proceedings</str<strong>on</strong>g>: <str<strong>on</strong>g>C<strong>on</strong>ference</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>Corporate</strong> Communicati<strong>on</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
<strong>Page</strong> 59