In a recent interview by Human Factor’s Syed Zafar Mehdi, the CEO of Reinventa Dee Oceans, Davide Sialpi, said:

“If the company has built a strong and authentic employer brand experience, it means the company has effectively focused on satisfying employee’s tangible and intangible needs.”

But how can companies communicate and align their successful internal employer brand with the tangible and intangible needs of their prospective employees? Online videos offer a unique opportunity to bring this message to life in a creative, accessible and credible manner. Videos can easily communicate facts and figures, testimonials and opportunities in a stimulating and enticing way whilst generating an emotive quality that speaks louder than any word. They offer the ability to convey the tangible and intangible qualities of an employer brand and respond to a potential candidate’s motivations and expectations in a short two minute clip.

So how are companies achieving this? We’ve been considering this as we peruse our knowledge boards on Pinterest and have come across a few great examples of how videos are being used to communicate with an audience on a number of levels.

Let your employees speak for you…

Starbucks used online video to promote their early careers opportunities. Their video has a clear target audience - entry-level candidates - and they have thoroughly researched who they are trying to appeal to. They promote a fun, development-focused environment where the ideas and abilities of entry-level employees make an impact. The accompanying music complements the whole piece, making Starbucks appear an up-beat and motivating place to work.

A day in the life…

Minale Design Strategy is an international company but their ‘day in the life’ video reveals the creative, laid-back, community-based culture that they have developed throughout their offices. It offers an employee’s-eye-view of their workdays in Paris and Brussels with a clever split-screen interaction. They communicate their company’s employer brand not through words but through actions and music.

Make an impact…

The National Graduate Development Programme tasked Casual Films to create a video that demonstrated what a graduate employee gets up to during their working day. The animated story reveals a career where employees interact with their local community and really make an impact. The animation brings the story to life, making a far greater impression on the audience. The video plays on the emotions whilst offering an insight.

Off the wall…

Innocent's video may be the most original I’ve seen. It features the Innocent Glee club performing an a cappella version of Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’. Full of fun and creative energy, it reveals a company culture that draws its audience in, exciting them and encouraging people to talk about their organisation. The videos informality engages its watchers, revealing more about Innocents underlying workplace environment than anyone could explain. With 29,826 watches on YouTube (in comparison to Starbucks video of 12,469) its originality has definitely drawn in an audience.

An online video is a great way to put across the tangible and intangible qualities of an organisations culture and environment, especially as workplaces and their culture often generate an impression or feeling that just can’t be put into words. An effective one requires a real understanding of the video's target audience and message. Most of all, a successful employer branding video -  one that not only draws in candidates, but also produces committed, quality employees - reveals an honest and insightful window into a company, communicating not only who they are, but what they can offer their audience and where any potential employees would fit within the organisation.