Employer Brand Tagline: Do You Need One?

employer brand, employee branding, marketing,

I love a good tagline or slogan: Where’s the beef? What can brown do for you? Time to make the donuts. Or, better yet a song: “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony.” Without evening naming names, we know the company. We recall a moment.

There’s something to be said for a brand that can share a message that creates meaning or even a sense of nostalgia.

Can an employer brand create a similar sense with just a simple tagline? Do employer taglines resonate? “Employer brand lines are essential,” says Susan LaMotte of exaqueo. “You’re not just creating one. You’re going through the same process consumer marketers do: research, value proposition, targeting.”

Cool Companies with Cool Employment Branding Taglines

After hours of searching career site after corporate career site, I will say that I could not easily find many taglines specific to careers. Here are some of the more noteworthy ones.

Which is your favorite?

  • Roll your way to the top. – Chipotle
  • Do cool things that matter. – Google
  • Amaze yourself. Amaze the world. – Apple
  • Imagination at work. – GE
  • Find Your World. – Marriott
  • Architects of what’s next. – VMware
  • We are the driving force. – General Motors
  • Shape the future of sport. – adidas group
  • Your life’s best work. – UnitedHealth Group
  • Your success is just a train ride away! – Amtrak
  • Driving your career. Insuring your future. – GEICO
  • Love where you live, love where you work. – Lowe’s
  • You’re in great company. – CEB
  • Find your Future. Make it Matter. – HP
  • At the corner of ideas and action. – Walgreens
  • Do epic shit. – Dormify

A Separate Brand Line for Careers

Should companies have two different taglines? One for the consumer brand and one for the employer brand. It’s an interesting debate. “How you operate should be in perfect alignment with the main business tagline,” states Jeff Waldman of Stratify and SocialHRCamp. “Creating a new one that is derived from it may make sense, but not always.”

For a company like Nike, recruiting might not need a separate tagline. “Just do it” seems to transcend all boundaries. However, an organization such as Toro (think snow blowers) may want to differentiate their product tagline from its career-brand. “Our brand is an extension of the corporate brand,” adds Celinda Appleby of HP. “We built on the ‘Make it Matter’ tagline, by creating tag lines that leveraged that.”

In the end, I guess, it depends on what makes the most sense based on your research.

Should you create a tag line for the sake of creating one? How can employer brands best leverage their consumer ones? Tell us what you think.

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Shannon Smedstad

Shannon Smedstad has nearly 20 years of recruitment, employer branding, and communications experience. Currently, she serves as the Principal Employer Brand Strategist at exaqueo. Previously, she held employer branding and recruiting leadership roles at CEB and GEICO. She’s a work at home mom raising two awesome girls who also enjoys reading, running, leading a Girl Scout troop, and her morning coffee. You can connect with Shannon on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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