The corporate brand and the consumer brand constitute important elements of the employer branding strategy for many companies.  An effective branding strategy for all brands means that the communication will emphasise common messages and values imbedded in the brands. The brands thus strengthen each other.

However, sometimes the company’s employment offer differs from its consumer image. People with values and attitudes similar to the consumer brand are attracted to the company, but discover that the workplace falls short of their expectations— or even worse, the company’s consumer image may convey a boring and uninteresting employer brand.

Some companies are fortunate enough to have overlapping consumer, corporate and employer brands. The consumer brand attracts the right talent, for example the target groups that the company wants to attract and retain. However, the consumer brand might create very high expectations among job seekers that might be difficult to meet.

Re-published: “Integrating your brands”, by By Annika Lagerholm, Universum Quarterly, 2006, Issue 1