In a similar vein, here are the 16 rules for brand strategy. Yes, they are about consumer brand strategy, but you should be able to take rules like, Lead with the Story, Look for the Subtext, and Empathize with your [Candidate]. These are not the typical "rules" you've seen before. For example, I adore rules like Speak Your Secret Language and Create Tension. Author Jasmine Bina also runs one of my favorite podcasts, Unseen Unknown. All of her stuff is amazing.

One of the reasons why I always dig Bud Caddell's stuff is that he's a "culture guy" who comes from business. There's not much "fuzzy-bunny" thinking with him. This article on strategy and culture post-Covid is a longer read, but there are layers to consider. One it can help you see how own business might respond. Two, it might give you ideas on how to embed your brand into your evolving culture. Three, how can you evolve your own employer branding function, treating it like an independent consulting service within your company.

Normally, in difficult times, our instinct is to reach out, literally. Human touch and physical expression—a hug, a hand on a shoulder, a quiet look of concern, sitting next to someone and not saying anything—are powerful ways to show people we’re here for them. But what do we do when all that’s left is our voice?Let's remember that the words we choose, on our career sites, on our job posts, on our outreach, on our emails, are the cheapest, most effective way we have to set frames and shape perceptions. We need to remember how important words are, especially when we are coping (and helping others cope) with... everything.

I've talked before about how much I love Oblique Strategies and how I would one day write my own deck for employer brand (tangent: the above article, which you should read all the way through because it talks about the weird shit Brian Eno came up with while recording Bowie's "Heroes," starts with a quote that should be tattooed on our collective hands, "Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences." Anyway...), but this article does a pretty solid job listing 61 ways to differentiate a given brand. A great exercise would be to list all 61 (or maybe just 30) and then list all the ways you could differentiate your own employer brand with that strategy. Congrats, you now have a LOT of good ideas you didn't have before.

Connecting with consumers is the key skill essential for building stronger brand bridges. It requires an end-consumer orientation for evaluating14 considerations and questions that will help in building a successful strategy for your brand.

"We can train ourselves to alter the self-organizing patterning systems by learning how to coerce our minds into taking alternative routes."

Brooks Brothers a brand that has lasted for two hundred and two years, and was floundering well before coronavirus hit may be finished. The pandemic gave The main reason for Brooks Brothers' demise is that the brand lost relevance. It lost touch with customers, their changing needs and changing tastes. What could they do to restore brand relevance?

Brands take time to fine-tune their position, to develop enough validating and confirming evidence to even be taken seriously. But all too often, employer branders have built something more flimsy than a true “brand,” find an “issue” and try to re-brand. So ask yourself: why are you re-branding?

I admit that when I read this article on “brand collaboration,” I couldn’t conceive of two employer brands collaborating and sharing ideas and identities. But then it hit me: Many of us have staff who have their own brands. Call them thought leaders or influencers, they are resources that you can use and support to drive your own brand. Like Michael Jordan and Nike, how are you going to collaborate your brands to mutual success?

Before I go any further, I must make an important distinction. This article concerns driving a brand's growth within an existing category. As such, it is Brands fighting for market share should keep these ten actions in mind.

There’s a lot of assumptions around the intersection of brand value and brand quality. That is, if a company does a great job supporting its people, the quality of the brand establishes the value of the brand. But it isn’t always so cut-and-dried. Take SpaceX, a company known for its horrible work-life balance and overly-aggressive management, two thinks engineers say they hate. And yet, SpaceX is the top company engineers want to work for. How can you leverage the disconnect between quality and value?

My rule of thumb for strengthening your employer brand is to separate your sentiment and reach and treat them independently. But when you try and extend reach, its a rare day that you’re extending into blue ocean. So here is some great thinking on extending your market penetration, how to push others out of the way while staking your claim.

The ease with which consumers have adapted to rapid change signals a future of more disruption.

What do doughnuts and tacos have to do with employer branding? You may be applying the wrong marketing and sales techniques to recruitment.

We always like to talk about engaging candidates, but… what constitutes “engagement?” An impression? A like? A click? Watching a video? Signing up for your newsletter (I won’t call it a talent “community” until you let members talk to each other)? How long does it take to become engaged in your brand? Perhaps we’re measuring the wrong thing. Rather than focus on an action, maybe engagement is a function of time and intensity.

Bryan Adams kicks his article off by saying, “talent acquisition professionals and employer brand leaders can often fall victim to an over-reliance on conventional thinking” so you knew I was going to mention this one. His call is to go beyond “typical employer branding” is music to my ears. It’s a call to stop being passive, to stop just focusing on polishing up and providing the “nicest” face on the company and taking a more active role in shaping the brand. Don’t tell stories, make stories. Love it.

If you’re looking for a good book, take a look at Brain Surfing by Heather LeFevre. Imagine if a very smart brand strategist decided to take an eat, pray, love style trip to meet the world’s most interesting brand strategists. Good stuff.

Podcast recommendation: Sweathead. It skews very agency-heavy/strategy director-heavy, and the quality of the podcast seems to hinge on the guest, but I have heard some really interesting episodes lately. I recommend The interviews with Ryan Ford, Blake Desormeaux, and Jenny Chang.

Metrics, anyone? EB Rock star Shaunda Zilich writes up a nice piece on EB metrics. I was going to quibble with it until I realized that the best part of the article is unstated: Metrics are gibberish until you decide what your strategy is first. You can measure oodles of things and easily get batted around like a leaf on the wind unless you have clearly defined what you are trying to do and deciding the metrics on that. Once I saw that, I realized how great the article was.

Companies have to hire the best, but that won’t be enough. They’ll also need to rethink how they reskill and upskill their people.

I point this out not because you need to know it, but employer branders always need to have a full quiver of ways to explain what employer brand is (and isn’t), so here’s a solid article from South America on demystifying employer branding.

We need to develop concrete content marketing goals that connect with broader business goals. Ruthie Bowles explains how.

Building your EVP? While there’s no right way to go about it, if you are doing it quickly, simply and without any doubts, I promise that you’re doing it wrong. So how do you make better decisions in that kind of situation? Combine data with doubt.

Please ignore the ATROCIOUS acrostic used, but here’s a nice article to meditate on in terms of thinking about the trends we all face and how to leverage them to strengthen your brand next year.

Precision isn't the answer. Alignment over time is.