Top 6 unique employer branding examples

While the benefits of employer branding are quite obvious to most, a lot of companies still struggle with execution. Either because they are missing the point or because they are simply uninspired. So, here are five employer branding best practices and a list of our favourite employer brands – and why we love them.

Why is employer branding so important?

Employer branding is extremely important for attracting and retaining talent. People simply want to work for a company with a good reputation and which they feel a connection with. Employer branding usually involves formulating a company's identity and reputation for both its current and potential employees. It focuses on highlighting an organization's mission, values, and culture, helping to attract the best employees, reduce hiring expenses, and decrease employee turnover. 

What are some examples of employer branding best practices

Employer branding isn’t an exact science. If only… However, here are some best practices that may help you shape your employer brand.

Authenticity

From the candidates perspective, accepting a job offer is a highly personal and pretty big decision. Being authentic and transparent will help candidates make the right choice - and will help with your retention rate as well. In other words: don’t fake what you can’t make. Trust us, candidates can tell when you’re not being authentic.

Consistency

Strive for consistency in your employer brand message across all platforms. Doing so will help build trust and credibility.

Employee involvement

What your employees are saying about your company has enormous influence on your employer brand. Therefore, it is of key importance to involve them in your employer branding strategy from A to Z. And to give your employees the tools to do so. Good practice is to leverage your employees’ unique stories.

Tailored messaging

We just advocated consistency in messaging. However, a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t cut it either. Your audience is diverse and you should adapt your message accordingly.

Engagement & feedback

The only way to know why your strategy does or doesn’t work, is by gathering feedback from candidates. Even if it seems like you’ve hit a homerun with your strategy, it is good to know what parts of the journey appealed to them and why. Same goes for rejected candidates.

Want to get started on your own employer brand? Find out how to build an employer brand in 3 simple steps. Or keep reading and get inspired by our favourite employer brands.

Examples of 6 amazing employer brands and why we love them

Building a strong brand isn’t easy. But there are some companies that have it down to a T. Here are 6 of our favourite employer brands and what we love about them.

1. SPEYK

SPEYK has all the ingredients to be a favourite employer brand. This IT company recently moved to a new location that gives you every reason not to work from home as much. And that fits their Employer Value Proposition and overall mentality. SPEYK promises to give both their employees and customers the best possible experience with the so called ‘SPEYK feeling’. For employees this means a great office experience with daily smoothies and lunch prepared by the in-house chef, plenty of workout opportunities and the BY-SPEYKER-program that allows them to have new experiences in and out of the office.  

The only challenge, especially for a smaller company such as SPEYK? Getting all of this great stuff out there. While the website and career page are still pending an update, SPEYK has already taken the first big step with an interactive, virtual tour through their company. This interactive content experience beautifully highlights SPEYKS’s office, employees, benefits and atmosphere. It has even earned SPEYK an honourable mention as inspirational About Us pages.

2. Coolblue

A company whose employer branding is as good as its ‘regular’ branding. It’s thorough, unique, clever and mostly witty. Coolblue tries hard and succeeds at making both current employees and potential employees feel like they want to be part of the community.

Personal favourite of ours is the incorporation of unique elements to both the career page and the individual job application pages. Such as this calculator that allows you to calculate what you will be earning. This level of transparency earns candidates’ trust and Coolblue couldn’t have done a better job.

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3. Ministry of Defence

Choose a company whose employer brand you love and explain why

We are a big fan of the Ministery’s beautiful video campaigns. The inspiring, beautiful shot videos with powerful voice over feel a bit like a music video. Additional testimonial videos add a personal touch and give candidates a closer look at what the Ministery does.

For the COMMIT branch, the challenge turns out to be slightly greater. Because did you know that you can also work at defense without having to undergo heavy training? In order to convey this message on location (pop-up stores etc.), the Ministry of Defense has been working with Intractive since 2023. Through interactive stories, potential candidates are inspired and informed about working for COMMIT.

4. Tony’s Chocolonely

Tony’s is both one of our favourite chocolate brands as well as employer brands. From elaborate welcome gifts for new employees to custom job titles that you proudly put on your LinkedIn (e.g. Chloe is a Choco Culture Vulture). Tony’s had got it down. A great video on their website elaborates on all the ways Tony’s takes care of its employees. A video that, in our professional opinion, asks a lot of your attention span. But when the message is simply that good, viewers are bound to stay put.

5. Google

A company that can’t really be missing from this list. People are lining up to work at Google, with good reason. Part of the reason being the incredible tech and another part being the exquisite Employer Value Proposition that is both effectively communicated and executed. Their employer brading strategy focuses mostly on promoting its unique culture, benefits and opportunities for personal and professional development.

A good example is Google’s 70/20/10 rule, which states that as an employee you spend 70% of your time on tasks you are asked to do by the company, 20% you can spend on developing your own ideas and the remaining 10% is for training. 

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6. Albert Heijn

Maybe you’ve seen them while doing groceries: the typical advertisements cleverly listing all the benefits of working for Albert Heijn with wordplay on the word ‘bijbaan’ (side job). Their social media is also perfectly adapted to the target audience. Their TikTok and Instagram presence shows Albert Heijn really understand who their target audience is and where to find them. 

Ready to become an employer brand rockstar yourself? Add interactive content experiences

One thing that all of the previously mentioned examples have in common: standing out pays off. Your values, culture, people and activities could be amazing, but if you don’t reach the people you want to know about it, there’s really no point. 

Intractive can help with that as a valuable part of your candidate journey. Our tool allows you to create your own interactive content experiences. Fully catered to younger audiences whose attention span is much shorter than most traditional employer video’s.

Curious what it can do for your employer brand? Click here for a free trial.

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