Through the branding prism: how employer and corporate brands interact

What’s the difference between an employer brand, a corporate brand and corporate culture — and should there even be a difference? 

James Ellis, a self-proclaimed “Employer Brand Nerd” and Founder of Employer Brand Labs, speaking at McGuffin Mornings in June of 2023 put it this way:

“There’s really a single brand within the company — I think of it like a prism… it’s a shared idea of what this company is all about.”

Depending on what light you are shining through the prism (customer, candidate, employee), you will view a slightly different picture, but they’re all aspects of the same, unified whole. For the strongest brands, there is no real difference between the three — they’re just viewed through different parts of the same prism.

For brand marketers trying to wrangle the different aspects of their brand to create a consistent and strong brand presence, the best time to work on your employer brand is when you’re working on your corporate brand, especially if it’s a rebrand. And whether you’re aware of it or not, your company culture informs both these brand aspects. 

So when and how do you go about bringing cohesion to all facets of your brand?

When to consider defining your employer brand

As Gayle Morse, Brand Strategist at McGuffin, puts it: “It’s one of those aspects of corporate leadership that’s easy to ignore as long as things are going well.”

It’s often a crisis that prompts a company to pay attention to their employer brand — high turnover, poor Glassdoor reviews, an exodus of top performers. Leadership shake-ups. Or a shiny rebrand that doesn’t quite match the internal reality.

Proactive companies don’t wait for a crisis. They look ahead and ask: Are we who we say we are? And even more importantly: Do our employees agree?

Working on a corporate rebrand is an excellent time to work on your employer brand. Crafting them side by side can encourage the cohesion that makes the whole brand stronger.

So how do you align the employer brand with the corporate brand?

Let’s say you’ve got a bold, compelling corporate brand. It tells a great story to the outside world. But does your employer brand tell the same story?

Here’s the key: get marketing and recruiting to talk to each other.

These two teams are often siloed. Marketing is focused on customers. Recruiting is focused on candidates. And they’re each telling their own version of the brand story.

Get them in the same room. Share strategies. Share data. Collaborate on storytelling. Because your candidates are also consumers. And your employees are your most powerful brand ambassadors.

Want even better results? Talk to your employees.

Ask them what they value. What they wish was different. What stories they tell about your company when they’re not at work. Your employees are the embodiment of your brand. Listen to them. Their answers can guide you to make the changes that will result in a more aligned employer brand.

Culture is the facet that informs it all

Learning from your employees brings us to the organic core of any company — culture. While culture ultimately has a life of its own, it can and ideally should be intentional. Corporate culture forms over time through behaviors, rituals, unwritten rules and shared stories. How do you help shape that? It starts with defining it.

Defining your culture is about articulating what already exists — and envisioning what you want it to become. That starts with naming your values, then checking in with your people: Do these feel true? Are we living them?

These answers will get you in tune with what your employees are experiencing, and let you know if this aligns with your intentions both as a brand and an employer. If your investigation turns up discrepancies, you can get to work making the changes you need to bring your overall brand back into integrity.

So how do you know if your culture is aligned — or off track?

Start by asking questions:

• Are we losing people we wish we could keep?
• What do our employees think of our stated values? Do they agree with them? Do they feel true to their experience? 
• How do we affirm behaviors that align with our brand and mission?
• Do people feel safe speaking up — and is there a mechanism for real feedback?
• Are marketing and recruiting saying the same things?

And here’s the big one: Do our people feel good about working here?

Stacking the brand deck for success

• Corporate brand is how the world sees you.
• Employer brand is how potential and current employees see you.
• Corporate culture is what it’s like inside your walls — real or virtual.

Brands are built on clear purpose. The more alignment among all three, the stronger all three become.

If your corporate brand promises innovation, your culture should reward creativity — and your employer brand should attract curious, bold thinkers.

If your culture values transparency, then both your internal comms and customer service should reflect that honesty.

The danger comes when these layers don’t match. When the external story doesn’t match the internal experience, people notice. And they talk.

Keeping your employer brand in integrity

• Start early by aligning marketing and HR. Make sure they’re talking to each other.
• Define your values and apply them intentionally at every structural decision point.
• Ask employees what’s true. Listen to their answers and take actions to address problems.
• Connect your values to everything: onboarding, internal comms, recognition programs, performance management, leadership development.

“It makes sense that these things stack on top of each other. When you connect the corporate brand that you’re expressing to the world to your employees, there’s a common purpose and a common sense of why you’re doing what you’re doing,” said Betsy Fiden, Partner, Marketing and Strategy at McGuffin.