Corporate & Product Advertising

The advertising industry is large and growing. Advertising is paid, one-way communication through a medium in which the sponsor is identified and the message is controlled. Variations include publicity, public relations, product placement, sponsorship, underwriting, and sales promotion. Every major medium is used to deliver these messages, including: television, radio, movies, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, and billboards. Advertisements can also be seen on the seats of grocery carts, on the walls of an airport walkway, on the sides of buses, heard in telephone hold messages and in-store PA systems. Advertisements are usually placed anywhere an audience can easily and/or frequently access visuals and/or audio, especially on clothing.
From my study of the chapter and the articles on web, I feel corporate and product advertising can be directly correlated to “Employer Branding” and “Consumer Branding”.

“Employer Branding is the process of discovery, analysis, definition, and communication of the employer’s unique assets.”
----------------- Jo Bredwell
JWT Specialized Communications

Employer Branding is a concept used in Human Resources Marketing. It is usually adopted by a company to convince their current and potential employee that the company is “Employer of Choice”.

Employer Branding is very much like Consumer Branding. Consumer Branding is building an image of the company’s product and services among the current and potential customers, likewise, Employer Branding is building an image of the company’s organization and its culture among the current and potential employee. Employer Brand like Consumer Brand is an emotional relationship. Here between the employer and the employee and that extends to the company’s stakeholders, the potential employee and the community.

In today’s demographic world, the competition is increasing day by day and eventually becoming tougher. The potential employee, investors etc are looking for companies which have a good brand name and similarly the companies are looking for talented employees. Employer Branding thus gives an opportunity to the company to differentiate itself from the competition.

“Branding is a process for creating an awareness in the community and becoming conscious if who you are?”
------------------ Mr. Kurt Mosley
VP of business development at The MHA group
A health care staffing firm

A successful Employer Branding is one in which the brand of products and services i.e. the corporate branding of a company correlates and is consistent with the company’s brand. Employer Branding is basically attracting and retaining employees. Employers with recognized brands make recruiting easier. But simply attracting potential job seekers is not the motive of Employer Branding. The goals and priorities of the jobseekers should align with the mission, vision and values of the company. Employer Branding is not only recruiting talented employees but also retaining and motivating ideal employees.

“Sometimes employers need a brand, but what they really need to discover what it is. I can remember when everyone said they had an entrepreneurial culture. Branding is not about what people want to hear or the hot buttons with college graduates. It’s about figuring out the realities of your organization and getting to its essence.”
--------------- Ms. Jo Bredwell
Senior partner at JWT Specialized Communications

In a Consumer Branding, the brands are built upon an intimate knowledge of the customers, similarly in an Employer Branding, the company must have understanding of what the current and potential employees want. This can be achieved by communication be it internally or externally, hearing and valuing their opinions, any innovative idea, their problems etc, giving them incentives, perks, by acknowledging them, praising them for a job well done etc.

In a company having successful Employer Branding, each and every employee working there, be it clerk or director or a fresh recruit, proudly says “I work here”. Such companies are referred to as “Employer of Choice”

Successful “Employer Branding” is built not only on the aspirations of a company, but also on its ability to deliver on the promise

“A survey by Personnel Today reveals that HR believes employer branding is vital if an organization is to recruit the best candidate.”

Employer Branding gives an employer a competitive advantage that he has over others in the market. It is a necessity when the corporate branding is declining. Properly planned and executed Employer Branding give reasons to potential employee to consider a particular employer, be loyal to him and stay in the company.


References:
www.RecruitingNevada.com

www.careerjournel.com

www.monster.co.uk

www.PersonnelToday.com

There are three categories of corporate advertising: image advertising, financial advertising, and issue advocacy. Image advertising has the aim to reinforce a company's identity and to enhance its reputation. Especially when structural changes occur within companies, they frequently use corporate advertising to strengthen their identities. Corporate advertising is an efficient tool for changing or establishing impressions about organizations if structural changes have taken place. Further, it allows companies to differentiate themselves from rivals. Companies arrange financial advertising campaigns to make them attractive as investment by enhancing their image in the financial community. Financial-relations advertising try to stimulate interest of potential investors in a company's stock. Many corporate advertisers claim that a strong financially oriented advertising campaign can increase a company's stock price. Issue or advocacy advertising is used by companies to respond to threads exposed by the government or special interest groups. In this case, companies try to communicate directly with consumers, competing with journalists who also try to influence readers with their stories about the companies. Companies dealing with environmental issues use advocacy advertising very often. The companies often react with advocacy ads in the media, trying to convince the public of its environmentally and socially responsible behavior.

The following articles help us understand the difference between corporate branding and product branding:

http://road.uww.edu/road/peltierj/Nurse%20Loyalty/Captivating%20company%20dimensions%20of%20attractiveness%20in%20employer%20branding.pdf

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HNN/is_7_20/ai_n14888086

The 8 weeks internship from JJMI taught me a lot about Employer Branding. The project that I did in those two months was on “How to enhance the brand equity of JJMI, and how would that help leverage the brand equity of J&J”. Through the data collection and analysis I got to know the perceived image of JJMI in the minds of the people, basically the potential employees. All that helped me to get to conclusions and then recommending what could be done to enhance the corporate image of JJMI.

Corporate advertising helps companies communicate their message to a wide audience quickly and efficiently, but at a rather high price. The goals for corporate advertising – increasing sales, enhancing reputation, and attracting and retaining employees – if met, will ultimately improve a company’s “brand”, the employer – employee relationship and the financial situation. Hence, corporate advertising can be a tremendous source in positioning the organization for future success.