#JobbioBreakfast: A Masterclass in Employer Branding

It was a full house for our HR Influencer session as people sacrificed sleep for wisdom, courtesy of Shazam’s Ruth Penfold and Jobbio’s Grace Looney.  Head of Talent Acquisition, Ruth lead the charge in the morning’s conversation, covering all things related to employer branding.

Despite recently reaching one billion users, Ruth insists that Shazam is still a relatively small operation with 110 people based in London, 110 in the US and 10 over the rest of the world. For her, building an employer brand is all about realising the value of your team of “humans”.

“Bring it back to humanity and remind your people that they are the biggest advertisement.”

Ruth insisted that branding doesn’t have to break the bank. One way to cost effectively promote your brand is through partnerships with like-minded companies. Events are a great way to seek out and strengthen these partnerships. More than anything, she stressed the importance of being yourself as a brand, if you want to attract the right people to your team.

 “Present the truest most authentic version of yourself to the world.”

Grace Looney, CMO at Jobbio agreed that being true to your employer brand is critical, not just for attracting a strong team but for retaining them. If your employer brand doesn’t translate into your work practices then it’s pointless. Companies need to be open about who they are and own their story. Proper internal communication channels help!

“You can do all your brand communications and forget about who is sitting in your business right now.”

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During the Q&A, the topic of youth engagement arose and again, authenticity was the answer. Embracing social is key but it should never dilute your employer brand. Be creative but think long and hard about who you are and who you want to be. To reach younger generations, Ruth advised the audience to:

“Meet younger audiences on platforms where they are but in an honest way.”

After the Q&A and fuelled by coffee and new insights, the rest of the event was spent networking among guests. Check out the photos here.

Missed this session? Fear not, there’s a number of upcoming events in our HR Influencer Series!  Register here to attend our next #JobbioBreakfast.

Author Aoife Geary

Aoife Geary is the Content Editor at Jobbio specialising in the areas of Workplace Culture, Diversity, Startups and Digital Trends. She's partial to a burrito, a bad pun and living way beyond her means.

More posts by Aoife Geary

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