I knew when I joined the PepsiCo family to lead the recruitment marketing efforts I would be expected to work closely with teams around the globe to help recruiters be successful. I knew in this newly created role that innovation and "best in class" effort would be the minimum expectation. I knew that the possibilities related to what I was being asked to be a part of were potentially unlimited. What I didn't realize was just how turbo-charged and 'infinite' those possibilities would be.

Oh, I was a believer that things would move quickly and I'd be tasked with helping to drive a new focus but I was a whole 2 weeks into my new job when it began to sink in... The level of ambition shared with me when I was being asked to join wasn't just "recruiter pillow talk."

Case in point? We just launched a brand new employment brand and marketing initiative that (so far) includes a fully redesigned career portal - and we did it in just under 15 weeks.

Was it easy? Nope.

Was it fun? Oh yeah.

Is it over? No way... the 'possibilities' have just begun to become evident - and I'm hoping you'll help.

In short - the idea around the new PepsiCo employment brand is to help bring to light the potentially infinite 'possibilities' presented to anyone interested in joining the PepsiCo family. Over the last few years it has become increasingly clear to me that Recruiting and HR departments everywhere are starting to fully understand the value of making an effort to market their employer to job seekers as opposed to riding on the coat tails of a company's already established reptutation. While I think that a company's existing reputation is a great place to start... it's just lazy to think we can expect top results in the talent attraction game this way.

As more and more companies begin to understand the value of recruitment marketing, it's important that a few basics be kept in mind when finally deciding to step into this exciting channel. This article is to not only share the first phase of some work that I'm incredibly proud to have been a part of, but to hopefully illustrate at a high level the approach that was taken in an effort to deliver not just a 'message' to both passive and active job seekers... but an idea.

Anyone that knows which way is up in the marketing world knows that delivering a clear message around the overall value proposition is never a bad thing. With many products or services this is usually something that isn't terribly difficult to identify. In the world of Recruiting however, it can sometimes be a challenge to decide what exactly 'the big win' should be. Is it the exciting jobs you have? Is it the benefits you offer? Is it the stability of your company? Is it ALL of these?

In the case of PepsiCo, we felt it was MORE than all of these examples - and in that moment, "Possibilities" was born.

When looking at the first release of the new PepsiCo.jobs site it's almost immediately obvious that the new focus is more about telling the story of our employees than in simply throwing jobs at you. Sure, we've made searching for jobs easier than it's ever been before - but we're going to great lengths to really let our employees from around the world talk about what's possibible as a PepsiCo employee.

What we feel will become very evident as the site matures is that the people of PepsiCo are passionate about performing with a purpose, real-world leadership, winning together and ultimately seizing the day.

Carpe diem, baby!

One of the more exciting things about the new brand is how we've taken a very Glocal approach. (yeah, I thought it was a typo the first time I saw it, too - think: mashup of global and local) What this means is that in some markets you might see the brand delivered as "Infinite Possibilities" while in another city/country you might see "Exciting Possibilities" presented to job seekers. Specific hiring initiatives might kick off "Healthy Possibilities" (aka: Quaker Marketing jobs) where others may push out "Leadership Possibilities."

The win here is that the core brand of PepsiCo 'Possibilities' is delivered around the world while giving recruiters the flexibility to customize the message in a way that helps attract the type of talent they're hoping to engage. We believe that no one knows the areas we recruit in better than our Recruiters and as a result, we've given them what I think is the most dynamic employer branding ever created.

A universal brand with the flexibility to be as local in delivery as it needs to be... crazy, huh?

This project has been my life over the last few months - and as a result I could easily continue to ramble on about the Phase I launch for hours! Instead, I'll encourage you to take a hard look at the new PepsiCo.jobs site and give me your feedback. I'm so interested in your thoughts as a Recruiter, Leader, Job Seeker or even simple web-surfer, that I'm giving you my direct phone number and hoping that if you won't leave comments on my RecruiterGuy blog that you'll at least call and leave me a message.

(214) 736-4629 - I'm serious. I want your opinion.

So while we've only just planted a few seeds of what's to come in future releases, I think several items should be pretty easy to spot. If you know me at all, then you know I'm a huge fan of insane honesty, transparency in the workplace and candid feedback. I hope to hear from you.

After all, with your feedback the Possibilities here are endless.

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originally posted on RecruiterGuy.net