Branding decision, company or name?

I would like to get feedback on the best ways to brand ourselves in the recruiting industry, especially as an independent recruiter in the world of social media.

The question is, do we use a different strategy to brand ourselves to jobseekers than we do to clients?

Do we want jobseekers to relate to us by our personal name or by our company name?

I see job postings by companies, yet I see social media profiles by personal names.

How do we decide, and if there are reasons to brand for both, do we do it seperately or find a way to bridge the 2 together?

Brian Jaeger

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on April 27, 2010 at 12:53pm

My take is to brand both. But as an independent focus will be on who you are. Your clients know you more by name than by your company name. Jerry Albright and i have almost the same company name but as independents we are known more by our names than our company name. That's how we sign our correspondence and our referrals.
Sandra McCartt -Professional Search, Inc. Int'l

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Permalink Reply by Slouch on April 27, 2010 at 12:58pm

Brian, I know you have made a lot of placements because we made a lot of them together. Let me ask you this, how many of those candidates called you looking for a job?

You bring up a lot of real good questions. We should talk about this.

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Permalink Reply by Alasdair Murray on April 27, 2010 at 1:10pm

I'd say be one brand offering different things to different people but synonymous with the same qualities, whether it's a client or candidate you're dealing with. Where you can be different is maybe in what you call yourselves and how you brand the organis(z)ation in an effective and memorable way.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Jaeger on April 27, 2010 at 1:28pm

The reason we have been labelled headhunters is because we went after the candidates. Although that is still a "must do" in this new age of recruiting, there is an incredible amount of emphasis placed on the internet, through job postings and job sites, social media sites etc. These sites are very time consuming, and they are being promoted every minute of every day. When you see major corporations being successful in recruiting using digital media, we as third party recruiters need to have as much bandwidth as our clients or we miss out on the candidates using the internet to look for opportunities.
More and more gen X'ers are using the internet for job searching, but the gen Y's are up and coming fast and that they are the future. If anything, we need to be ahead of our clients, not keep up with them.

Where there used to be a few basic methods of recruiting, which was fairly easy to maintain and handle, now has now become a vast array of methods which can be somewhat daunting.

Slouch said:

Brian, I know you have made a lot of placements because we made a lot of them together. Let me ask you this, how many of those candidates called you looking for a job?

You bring up a lot of real good questions. We should talk about this.

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Permalink Reply by Slouch on April 27, 2010 at 1:40pm

"Where there used to be a few basic methods of recruiting, which was fairly easy to maintain and handle, now has now become a vast array of methods which can be somewhat daunting."

only if you let it.

Brian Jaeger said:

The reason we have been labelled headhunters is because we went after the candidates. Although that is still a "must do" in this new age of recruiting, there is an incredible amount of emphasis placed on the internet, through job postings and job sites, social media sites etc. These sites are very time consuming, and they are being promoted every minute of every day. When you see major corporations being successful in recruiting using digital media, we as third party recruiters need to have as much bandwidth as our clients or we miss out on the candidates using the internet to look for opportunities.
More and more gen X'ers are using the internet for job searching, but the gen Y's are up and coming fast and that they are the future. If anything, we need to be ahead of our clients, not keep up with them.

Where there used to be a few basic methods of recruiting, which was fairly easy to maintain and handle, now has now become a vast array of methods which can be somewhat daunting.

Slouch said:
Brian, I know you have made a lot of placements because we made a lot of them together. Let me ask you this, how many of those candidates called you looking for a job?

You bring up a lot of real good questions. We should talk about this.

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on April 27, 2010 at 3:26pm

I still remember the struggle I went through in coming up with a name for my company when I went out on my own years ago. I'll never forget the advice one of my mentors at the time gave me.

"You don't need a company name until someone needs to send you a check. YOU have a name. Use it."

I for one am still amazed at how much effort recruiters place on this whole "brand" thing. We don't need a to work so hard at chasing the branding illusion - when we already have a reputation - and it's free!

Good luck - and be safe out there kids!

Jerry Albright, Professional Search Group, Inc. and Verbal Summary, Inc.
Husband, Father, Recruiter, Animal Lover, Avid Gardener, Music Fan, American.

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on April 27, 2010 at 3:33pm

And there are lots of times for lots of reasons that i wish the check were made out to me personally instead of the company name. :) Equally as well know as a recruiter and an animal cruelty investigator.
One more time with feeling....A BRAND IS SOMETHING ONE PUTS ON A COW'S BUTT SO ONE CAN FIND IT WHEN IT GETS LOST. That is because most cows do not have first and last names. i agree with jer.

Jerry Albright said:

I still remember the struggle I went through in coming up with a name for my company when I went out on my own years ago. I'll never forget the advice one of my mentors at the time gave me.

"You don't need a company name until someone needs to send you a check. YOU have a name. Use it."

I for one am still amazed at how much effort recruiters place on this whole "brand" thing. We don't need a to work so hard at chasing the branding illusion - when we already have a reputation - and it's free!

Good luck - and be safe out there kids!

Jerry Albright, Professional Search Group, Inc. and Verbal Summary, Inc.
Husband, Father, Recruiter, Animal Lover, Avid Gardener, Music Fan, American.

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Permalink Reply by Keith Robinson on April 27, 2010 at 4:36pm

Always enjoy the Branding debate and Brian this is a great question - My take is that as an independent your Company name and "your name" are to a great extent one in the same. A key element of any brand strategy is reputation and "Reputation Management" is critical to building the Employer Brand.

A companies reputation whether it is for it;s product, service, management or leadership all contribute to it's "Brand". Therefore I find myself agreeing with Jerry (rare in this debate) "Brand You", What you do, How you do it, How it is perceived, How it is communicated is much more inportant than a "company name".

BUT and here is the rub if you wish to build a scalable business, that has a value to others then you have to move from a "one man brand" to more "corporate" one.

Candidates when you launch buy you BUT the moment you employ others they buy your values, your service, your reputation they buy those values that you instill in your team.

My take for what it is worth Brian.

Keith Robinson (aka siteadvsor)

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Permalink Reply by Lizz on April 27, 2010 at 5:42pm

The scalability is the big question - as well as what is your end game.

Companies that brand to the founders name will always have the founders name. But it is sometimes hard to sell that company and assume the new owner will keep your name on it, no matter how strong the brand is/was once you are gone.

Independents should brand to their name, it is the name people will remember the most, just like consumer brands, when it sticks, it sticks - how many times have you ever asked for a Acetaminophen for your headache? (Tylenol)

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Permalink Reply by Dina Harding on April 28, 2010 at 12:16am

An excellent question, Brian. From the standpoint of how you pose your question, being an independent recruiter using SM, my take is that your own name will always have more value, although I believe it is important to build the company name in SM, as well. Your personal name is built in the form of a reputation that comes primarily from your own character, integrity, and in building and nurturing relationships along the way (the most important of all things). As such, your personal name can easily transcend a company's name at a rapid pace, and it's worth will also carry with you where ever you go in the world of recruiting (whether you switch companies or dive into different niche markets). Even until the very end, no one really cares about the company name where you've worked, but your personal name will surely go on the headstone. I'd pay attention to both, but concentrate on your own name as a priority :D

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on April 28, 2010 at 12:57pm

It occurs to me after reading Dina's thoughts that any time there is a bastardization of a word in the English language there will arise a debate or confusion. She clarifies the difference between you as a person and your company name. Let's take it a step further.

A Brand is an identifier, as in "What brand of cigarettes do you smoke?" A brand is a specific identifier not a reputation. Branding is putting an identifier on a business or a product. Branding is naming something. One does not brand "to" something. One names something then builds or developes a reputation, good, bad or indifferent. The act of Branding is putting a name or an identifying mark on something it is not building a reputation.

How many times have all of us said, "I won't buy that brand of whatever, it's not any good." Change the name and we might try it because the name is different.

How many of the same product manufactured by the same company are sold under different brand names.

It's my take if we could quit messing around with the meaning of words there would be no confusion between reputation and name (brand). So name it or call it whatever you like but build, develop and protect your reputation. A Brand can be changed but a reputation once built or destroyed is what it is.

In my world there are still problems from time to time. Problems did not become issues. Issues are still disputed points.

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Permalink Reply by Keith Robinson on April 28, 2010 at 3:44pm

Could not disagree more - part of any successful brand is reputation, a name is not a brand, a badge is not a brand. When you develop a product you “name it" but it becomes a brand as positive values become associated with it. Merc, BMW, Mont Blanc, Dunhill were names but became brands.

Re cigs - Marlboro is both a name and a brand - it is also a line of clothes but the associate is "cool, rugged manly etc".

A product name is the specifier but the term brand got hijacked as marketers used the terms such a Brand Manager instead of Product Manger or Brand Development instead of Product Development.

When some says I won't buy that brand they mean I won't buy that named product and the reason is because of negative "brand" connotations have become associated with - hence why Reputation Management is a critical part of any Brand or because they don’t like the product.

But a name is not a brand.

Sandra McCartt said:

It occurs to me after reading Dina's thoughts that any time there is a bastardization of a word in the English language there will arise a debate or confusion. She clarifies the difference between you as a person and your company name. Let's take it a step further.

A Brand is an identifier, as in "What brand of cigarettes do you smoke?" A brand is a specific identifier not a reputation. Branding is putting an identifier on a business or a product. Branding is naming something. One does not brand "to" something. One names something then builds or developes a reputation, good, bad or indifferent. The act of Branding is putting a name or an identifying mark on something it is not building a reputation.

How many times have all of us said, "I won't buy that brand of whatever, it's not any good." Change the name and we might try it because the name is different.

How many of the same product manufactured by the same company are sold under different brand names.

It's my take if we could quit messing around with the meaning of words there would be no confusion between reputation and name (brand). So name it or call it whatever you like but build, develop and protect your reputation. A Brand can be changed but a reputation once built or destroyed is what it is.

In my world there are still problems from time to time. Problems did not become issues. Issues are still disputed points.