Brand experience - standing out among the competition

What is the brand experience and why is it so important?

First and foremost, the brand experience is the brand perception, i.e. how consumers assess a brand. This perception can be influenced by experiences, such as the fact that this particular brand was always bought in childhood, or by reviews from other buyers. Thus, a consumer is not only influenced by personal experiences, but also by external influences. The same applies to the brand experience for employers, which is also influenced by memories and recommendations.
In the perception of the employer brand, it is crucial how a potential employee came to the company, how the onboarding process and the employment relationship took place, up to the eventual termination. All this influences the brand experience and thus also employer branding. All processes have an influence on how positively or negatively a brand is viewed or remembered. In times when employees can inform themselves better than ever before, the relevance of brand perception increases. Especially in highly competitive industries, where there are many employers and few qualified workers, a differentiation strategy is needed to attract employees.

In addition to the simple information gathering, the social media factor and its impact on a company's reputation and thus their brand experience should not be underestimated. A company that can score points online through a well thought-out marketing strategy will be shared more often and thus reach more potential employees. At the same time, bad news spreads faster and can escalate into an image-damaging "shitstorm". The external impact should therefore be closely monitored and managed.

Achieve a positive association

For a positive brand perception, positive experiences or memories of a product or employer are needed first. This means that whenever a professional comes into contact with the company, it should be positive. This includes marketing, but also the online presence on social media or the initial contact via the job advertisements on the various job portals and during the application process. Each interface can be crucial for the brand experience. It is important to highlight your particular advantages. Are you particularly family-friendly? Do you offer a company pension scheme or have special sports programmes for your employees? How do your recruiters behave in the application process?

The design of your website can also be decisive for a positive association, just as sustainability has a positive effect on perception. In all of this, it is important not to neglect what the message of your employer brand is in the first place. For example, a key part of your identity may be environmental responsibility, through pro-rata donations to charities and recycled packaging. You may have won awards or be able to score points with special employee programmes.
However, the brand experience does not stop at differentiation as an employer, but as mentioned above, is also influenced by the process after the application has been submitted. A strong service system that listens to employees and ensures their satisfaction is essential for a positive perception. An unfriendly email or poorly written job advertisements can prevent potential professionals from starting with you or not applying at all, thanks to bad online reviews. In all of this, make sure that your benefits and values are communicated through a corresponding strategy. This creates a unified brand image rather than an iridescent one

Designing a brand experience requires, among other things:

• a well thought-out Internet presence
• Social media presence
• Trade shows
• flyers
• Events
• Corporate clothing
• Advertising

In addition to these resources, employees are also crucial because they also contribute to a positive image. If you hear over and over again how bad a company is as an employer by exploiting its employees, this has a negative impact on the brand experience. For example, the term "McJobs", derived from jobs at McDonalds, is still recorded in the Oxford Dictionary and refers to a low-paid job with poor working conditions. This neologism due to the working conditions at McDonalds damaged the company's image immensely, so a lot of time and money had to be invested to compensate for this.

Consequences of a positive brand experience

With the help of a clear differentiation, thanks to the brand experience, the brand and you as an employer remain longer in the memory of the employees. This has an enormous advantage for future employees, for example, the decision-making process is accelerated. Most people make a decision based on habit or references, so they have a positive association with the employer. 
Bad reviews online on indeed, stepstone or kununu can break any company's leg. A bad review lasts 7 times as long as a positive one and with the given shortage of skilled workers, this can become a real obstacle. After all, these negative associations are carried forward and remain in the memory. After all, our memories go so far that a certain colour or smell alone evokes a memory. A negative brand experience can go so far that it affects the sales figures of your product.

Summary

Just as brand perception in terms of employer branding can have an impact on product sales, so too can the product have an impact on reputation as an employer. With a positive product image, the desire of employees to work for exactly this company grows. This is precisely because the product is often the first point of contact and therefore harbors many associations. A bad product can therefore also be the reason for a lack of applicants. However, it is crucial that the brand experience plays a role in employer branding. A positive brand perception can be decisive in the long term for whether or not you get enough applicants. Especially since the change from employer to employee market puts companies in a position where they have to compete for workers.

Sources: Uni Bremen | onlinesolutionsgroup.de | markusgull.com | feeddough.com