Corporate Eye

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Careers: Using LinkedIn and Talent Networks

Careers: Using LinkedIn and Talent Networks

Roche provide a page called ‘Meet our talent scouts’, which provides a summary of the interests of each of their talent scouts – and, interestingly, a link to their LinkedIn profiles. The main body of the page suggests that if the visitor is interested in a position, they should connect with the appropriate scout via LinkedIn.

The bio at the bottom of the page is of the Program Manager for Talent Relationship who says that their recruitment model is built on the concept that relationships matter, and encouraging the visitor to reach out to a talent scout to start the conversation.

We like this because it is an interesting way of connecting the corporate website and LinkedIn, and provides a way to build the corporate talent network.

Roche Talent Scouts

Shining transparency into CSR websites


Think of elves … what do you get?

Happy chappies I’ll bet, full of light and song and laughter.  That’s the legacy of Victorian Romantics for you.

In reality their folklore tradition is more complicated.  Often seen as the root of minor ailments, elves were sometimes portrayed as having more malign intentions.

Even in modern literature, the great elf-lord of them all J.R.R Tolkien (not Timothy McGee) made sure there was at least one pure-evil elf in his Middle Earth cycle, Maeglin.

The reason for this odd intro is because this illusion/reality concept reminds me of Canada.

Canada?  Yes, Canada.

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Licensing BMW Brand Equity Brings the High-Performance Promise to Baby Products

When there is equity in a brand, there is a risky temptation to over-extend the brand and ultimately, devalue it in consumers’ minds. Will that happen to BMW as it pursues a wide range of brand licensing opportunities? It can be hoped that as long as the brand is licensed consistently and the BMW licensing team exercises restraint, the BMW brand promise won’t be tarnished. In other words, the brand that promises high performance must be licensed to products that deliver on that promise.

This month, a licensing deal between BMW and Maclaren has been discussed among retail and branding experts across the web with everyone speculating on how the BMW brand will be perceived when it is seen on Maclaren baby strollers. Of course, BMW isn’t the first automotive brand to license its name and logo for baby strollers. If you walk into a baby gear store in the United States, you’ll find a number of JEEP strollers. It’s a great match, particularly for fathers who prefer a more gender-neutral stroller to push their babies.

Furthermore, Maclaren strollers are priced significantly higher than many other strollers, so the high-end BMW brand is likely to match the Maclaren target audience, too. The hope, of course, is that BMW customers who need strollers will choose the BMW Buggy from Maclaren and that Maclaren stroller customers will become more interested in the BMW brand and consider it for their future automotive purchases. The licensing agreement seems like a win-win for both brands.

bmw buggy maclaren stroller

So far, BMW appears to be exercising the necessary restraint in its licensing deals. Brand Channel reports that the BMW team will not license its brand to cigarette or food products and video games that would feature BMW vehicles exploding or being destroyed in any way won’t debut anytime soon. Licensing deals that have been signed to date include:

  • Aspex eyewear featuring, “distinct contouring of the frames as reflective of BMW’s dynamic automotive artistry.”
  • Group III luggage featuring, “exceptional quality and superior performance – two hallmarks of the BMW brand. Created to compliment the enterprising lifestyle of BMW owners, the branded luggage will be manufactured with stylish and distinctive hardware.”
  • Ball Watch featuring expert craftsmanship that, “incorporates various technical feats.”

What do you think of the BMW brand licensing strategy?

Image: BMW and Maclaren

54% of the World’s Top Brands Are on Instagram

More than half of the world’s top brands are now active on Instagram according to a new report from SimplyMeasured. Those brands are active and attracting followers, too. 20% of brands on Instagram have more than 10,000 followers, and 18% have more than 20,000 followers. However, just eight brands on Instagram have more than 100,000 followers. Those eight brands are responsible for 92% of the audience engagement.

Instagram launched as a simple photo-sharing app just two years ago in October 2010. At the beginning of 2012, 15 million people used Instagram. Fast forward nine months and Instagram had grown to 100 million users and shows no signs of slowing down.

Suffice it to say, Instagram is very alluring to brands that want to connect with those 100 million users. It’s not surprising that between August 1, 2012 and November 1, 2012, the Instagram adoption rate among the world’s top brands jumped by 35%. That’s higher than the Pinterest adoption rate during the same time period of 24%, and significantly higher than the 5% increase Google+ experienced.

The eight brands leading the way on Instagram are MTV, Starbucks, Burberry, Nike, Gucci, Tiffany & Co., Audi, and GE. The most active category on Instagram is apparel, and business-to-consumer brands are more active than business-to-business brands overall. You can see some statistics in the image below about these eight brands and their Instagram account details recorded during the 3-month period of August, September, and October 2012.

Click the image to view it at full size.

instagram top brand account details

One of the most interesting things learned from the SimplyMeasured report is how significantly Facebook drives engagement for Instagram photos. Of course, since Facebook purchased Instagram, this is a relationship that will only grow. According to the report, out of 2,533 photos that brands shared on Instagram during the 3-month study period, 60% were shared to Twitter and 93% were shared to Facebook.

Nike stands out as a brand that has had great success with Instagram. A mixture of compelling photos has led to great engagement rates, including:

  • 57.3 tweets per photo
  • 612.3 Facebook likes per photo
  • 1.5 Facebook comments per photo
  • 0.9 Facebook shares per photo

You can read the full Instagram Brand Adoption Study report from SimplyMeasured below, which tracked the performance of the brands on Instagram from Interbrand’s list of the top 100 brands.
 

Best Length for Social Video Ads

social video ads cameraSocial video advertising is one of the big buzz topics among marketers these days, particularly since some advertisers have seen their ads spread across YouTube users and social media farther and wider than ever lately.

According to Unruly Media’s October 2012 viral video chart data, the top 20 most shared ads include Coca-Cola’s Coke Zero, GoPro’s Hero3 Black Edition Camera, Ashton Bikes, Red Bull, Chanel in the top five spots, respectively. The most-shared ad received 790,556 shares while the ad in the #20 spot (from Microsoft Surface) received 107,940 shares.

What makes a great social video? Tapping into emotions by telling stories that create interesting and meaningful brand experiences are the most important steps, but there seems to be a sweet spot in the length of ads that are more likely to get shared and go viral. ReelSEO shared insights from Unruly Media this week about social video ad duration, and the results might surprise you.

According to the Unruly Media study, the average video length of the top 50 most shared global video ads were:

  • Top 10 – 4 minutes 11 seconds (2,513 total seconds – does not include “Kony 2012”)
  • 11-20 – 2 minutes 30 seconds (1,501 total seconds)
  • 21-30 – 3 minutes 5 seconds (1,849 total seconds)
  • 31-40 – 2 minutes 57 seconds (1,770 total seconds)
  • 41-50 – 1 minute 45 seconds (1,049 total seconds)
  • Top 50 – 2 minutes 54 seconds (8,682 total seconds – does not include “Kony 2012”)

Many research reports in the past have shown that videos that are too long will have a high abandonment rate and with that comes a low share rate. The same is true of videos that are extremely short. However, even a 15-second pre-roll ad before an online video can be enough to motivate people to click away without watching the video content. If your ad doesn’t say something compelling within the first 5-seconds (and absolutely within the first 15-seconds), then your ad is likely to fail. It might even damage the success of the video it’s displayed with.

The trick is finding the right kind of video content to interest and engage your target audience. Greg Jarboe of ReelSEO asked Unruly Media Head of Content David Waterhouse about how marketers can marry engaging brand content with the fast-moving online audience in order to increase sharing. You can read the full interview here. You can also keep up on the Unruly Media viral video chart here. It’s a great place to learn what type of video ad content is resonating with the online audience to help you with your own strategies and planning.

Image: Jacob Power

Setting The Benchmark: Online Recruiting at its Best

With the right programmers, top designers and expert copywriters, your corporate website can be made to do just about anything. That’s a great opportunity, of course, but the freedom to create can be overwhelming at times and it’s no wonder that so many top recruiters end up playing things safe. Usually a job description and an application form does bring in applications, but if you want to target the top cut of graduates you need to start thinking creatively. If you’re stuck for ideas, why not take a look at some of the industry leaders when it comes to online recruiting?

Red Bull Racing Internships

Though it’s currently offline, the flashiest (if you’ll excuse the pun) recruitment site I’ve seen directed potential applicants towards an interactive ‘challenge’, including memory tests and spatial reasoning exercises. Only then are applicants allowed to see the application form. It’s a great way of pulling in hits, but also works as a sort of screening process.

Marks and Spencer

Another popular graduate recruiter is right on the mark with a Flash-based site which is simple and designed for the user. The smartphone-like dashboard is a great way of getting users to the right information with the minimum of fuss. It’s creative without being overly ornate.

Nike Design

You’d expect an site looking for product design interns to be top-class and Nike’s is. Putting function over form, Nike offers interns a chance to link a resume, portfolio and a website and allows the applicants creativity to shine. Plus, it allows a link to Facebook which allows recruiters an all-telling look at their applicants pages!

Random House Publishing

Publishing is incredibly in demand from graduates looking for creative roles and, as such, Random House (amongst other publishers) use Facebook almost exclusively for recruiting interns. A post asking for CVs a week before an internship starts will guarantee a committed intern who will have plenty to do!

Ernst and Young

When something a little more formal is required, E&Y are leading the market. It’s on brand and easily identifiable, but most importantly the site layout is incredibly efficient. This sort of model is ideal for large recruiters who offer lots of roles year on year and can easily be tweaked and updated when the branding changes.

Of course, these recruiters are all big brands, but there’s no reason this sort of web estate can’t be generated by smaller recruiters. A well modelled recruitment site is a valuable asset and can stay with you for a long time so it’s worth developing well and looking after.