During 2011 I watched as companies in the United States began to add Employment Brand Manager positions to their organization.  In October I published a post because I saw that companies were not integrating the efforts of the Consumer and Employer Brands. However, upon reading the job descriptions and speaking with some of the hiring managers it has become apparent that Employment Branding is entering organizations much like social media did a few years ago.  Companies see other organizations doing it and attracting quality talent so they jump on board without really grasping what it is all about.  As new as the concept is in the US for some companies the concept has been in existence for a while in Europe and Asia.

What does the Consumer Brand Manager try and do?

For discussion purposes don’t get hung up on the funnel depicted above.  There are lots of different versions.  Let’s just take some simple math here.  Imagine the target market for this brand consists of 10 people.  In this funnel model, the brand manager wants all 10 to be aware of the brand and their product.  Through the process people drop out of considering to make a purchase but in the end 6 people do. The brand manager then sets about trying to determine why the other 4 didn’t make a purchase.  In a perfect world this model is not a funnel but a pipe where all 10 who are aware of the brand purchase the product.

How does this compare to the role of the Employer Brand Manager?

Lets jump to the end here.  The product here is a position at the company.  No matter how many people want the job, only one will be selected.  Here in lies the challenge for most employer brand managers, how do you tell someone that they didn’t get what they want and yet they continue to be an advocate for the brand?

Where most companies fail in their recruiting effort is to remember that in many cases, job applicants may also be their customers.  Few people will apply to work for a brand they don’t like and use.  Those who do most likely are not the taking a position for the right reasons.  I listen to marketing people ask “how do you find your brand ambassadors” in many of the discussions I have participated in and ask “Who should be more loyal and a better ambassador than those who work for you?”  With that thought process it follows that those who want to work for the brand may also be potential ambassadors as well.

The smart companies will realize that they can gain efficiencies in using both branding efforts to support the companies objectives.