Recently several companies have engaged Universum about the question of taking or not their employer branding into moving media.  My answer would be yes!

Today’s talent lives in the digital world (facebook, renren, twitter, tudou, youtube, youku …) and expects to receive information via digital channels. Any information available online can then be accessible to a wider audience than the typical communication materials / efforts. Furthermore, a video gives companies the opportunity to show the real company environment and how it is to work there. It becomes a great tool for clear communication, enabling employer brands to be better understood by the target audience – something critical to ensure you have a proper talent relationship management strategy in place.

Some companies have also been facing the complexity of adding moving media into their communication portfolio, but creating a video doesn’t need to be complicated: interview or follow an employee during a day, show the company environment and also present basic information that students want to know (i.e., career path, mentoring programs, …). Communicate what the audience wants to know – easy to do if you have access to research data. Finally, use the videos during events (career fairs, open days, company days, …) and make it available on your online channels (website, social media pages). It will help people understanding better your employer brand and your offerings – critical to ensure you attract the people with the right personality and skills.

To sum up, creating a set of employer branding videos is a must have – it’s the same as thinking that marketing could only live with print adverts or fliers… not in this decade!

Recently, during the State of the Union address, the US President asked the US for a new Sputnik moment. Mr. Obama was referring back to the moment when the late USSR managed to beat the US in launching the first satellite – an event that triggered a fast technological development from the US side.

But can the US sustain a new technological leap forward? My answer is no! Reality check: with a huge debt crisis and with only one in four youngsters going to university, there will be neither financial capacity nor human capital to deliver on this aspiration.

The technological leap forward will most likely come from China: 1) the human capital is there – 400 000 engineers being turned out every year (against 250 000 from India or 35 000 from Brazil) against the existing 1,6 million engineers working in the US; 2) the financial capacity is on the rise – a huge trade surplus making money available for R&D.

History might repeat itself… but this time, it seems that the roles have reversed – the US is in a similar situation to what the USSR was, and China is in the driver’s seat. I look forward to this new technology race – in the end, we’ll all win no matter wheter the new products / solutions are “made in China” or “made in USA”.