Innovating an Employer Brand on Campus in a Tough Market

It's a question that clients ask us time and time again in the grad space. "How do I stand out if I've got nothing to stand on?" After working with companies big, small and everywhere in between, there are 2 different ways we look at standing out without anything to stand on.

Ask yourself 2 questions:

1. Is this a branding exercise? Do I need to educate people about my company? What we do? And what we're about?

2. Is this a call to action? In other words - do I want people to do something right now! Do I just want people to apply? Answering those questions first, make the rest pretty simple.

The Challenge:

1. Branding excersises are difficult to measure.

2. A "call to action" can provide a multitude of unnecessary responses.

We talk a lot about the branding journey of a student, all the different things they read, see and do. From hanging out with their friends on campus, to drinking at the pub, to reading a magazine, to searching for anything online, there are a variety of platforms that a student uses day to day to make their decisions. Whether purchasing a product or deciding what company to apply for. 

Most companies want to be on the branding journey with a student, but are afraid to dedicate the capital or the resources to get there and end up with a call to action every time. This always brings a plethora of applications - but a limited percentage of the right ones.

So, what's the answer? It's a nice healthy mix of both. 

When we work with companies on their grad strategies for getting on and off campus, we always recommend a few high value, but mostly, low cost interactive options.

The key is to be authentic - have a unique message and communicate it with clarity.

Innovative options for branding:

Free: Walk around your office with an iPhone video. Ask 5 of your current grads 3 questions : 1) why did you join? 2) what do you love about working here? 3) what are they currently working on (within reason)? Keep it granular - don't make it overly professional. Students want reality. (if you'd like a sample of more questions, just email me and I'll come up with a few for you) Put the video on a YouTube channel or on your Facebook page Share the video in an email to applicants so they get a true sense of what it's like to work there. Students are constantly being sold to, so an essential part is being authentic and genuine. Anything over manufactured gets lost in the ether. Another option is to start a company blog. Use your current graduates to write the content - from a different perspective weekly (should you need a social media policy let me know and I'll happily send through a sample).

Paid: Unigrad guides (of course) or student magazine, even careers fairs are branding exercises - execute these with innovation by having fun on your stand, creating exciting adverts and sharing real life testimonials and grad experiences (there are a lot of "happy smiling grad faces" out there). More costly but interactive is a mobile apps that give students an experience into your business and your brand.

Innovative options for call to action: 

Free: Use your facebook pages, linkedin, or blogs to notify readers of application closing deadlines - generally 3 days prior to close is best. Post your job advert on Gumtree, facebook or the free careers service websites (if you'd like a list of these - email us and I'll send them through)

Paid: Post your job on Unigrad.com.au (of course again) Gradconnection, Seek, mycareer, careerone. These sites are specific for students going to apply. They've done their homework, they've looked around, they are going in for the final "viewing" before applying direct.

There are a plethora of ways to differentiate yourself on campus, from competitions, to activities, to digital, to social media even through to print (did you know that the #1 trust source for students is still print?). To ensure you're meeting the market, divide and conquer into branding and call to action. This way you'll know what you can and cannot measure and what is and isn't important.

Good luck in the coming grad season!

Andrea Culligan CEO at The Unimail Group

The Main Event - CEO Cookoff

A huge congratulations goes out to Ozharvest, Mission Australia and Qantas for organising the inaugural CEO Cookoff held on Monday evening.  It was a huge success with donations reaching close to $1 million dollars.

We arrived around 5:30pm to the St. Mary's Cathedral location being sectioned off from the public and a huge marquee, stage and tents established.  As we registered and made our way to the tent allocated, the names of chefs from all around the country lined the tents; Maggie Beer, Bill Granger, Adam Liaw, Julie Goodwin and Neil Perry just to name a few.

I was allocated to work with Maggie Beer and George Columbaris (from Masterchef and the Press Club).  Overwhelmed, a little daunted, and even a touch intimidated, I walked up to introduce myself to George who promptly put me on "potato" duty.  I was to cut all potatoes to size as bevel the edges. Bevel?  Really?  ME? Details?  Clearly, this was not my forte, but I was determined to be the best.

As I cut my potatoes with nervous hands, I was introduced to the rest of my team; Peter Maher - CEO of Macquarie Retail, Adrian Taylor, CEO of Charter Hall, Kerrie Mather, CEO of Sydney Airport amongst others.  

In the adjoined tent we worked with Adam Liaw, Bill Granger 

and Justin North - all incredibly inspiring chefs.  Combined with the CEO of Optiver and IBM alongside my Telstra Businesswomen alumni Rachel Argaman (Toga Group), Emma Issacs (Business Chicks) , Annalise Law (the KangaGroup), Lisa Messenger (the Messenger Group) and others such as Jo Burston (Job Capital) and Leona Watson (Cheeky Food Group) - I was exhilarated.  

I also had the pleasure of meeting Alan Joyce himself. 

 I believe him to be one of the most influential CEO's of the moment and his candour and personality was engaging and wonderfully grounded (no pun intended!).  So much so, I provided him very direct feedback on the regular  LAX leg of the Qantas connection to Canada I fly (I had the opportunity - I was NOT going to waste it) of which he returned with some fantastic news and results for the next 12 -14 months to change this.  Clearly, I wasn't the first to mention it!  

At around 6:30pm the one thousand homeless and less fortunate from charities all over the city were welcomed with cheers and clapping into the venue and allocated their proposed table.  

Us "chefs" and "cooks" quickly plated up our first course of mushroom soup which was predominantly pre-prepared and therefore all trade secrets were kept.  Our tent became a hive of media and spectators with Matt Preston arriving in true cravat style.  

Cameras, video cameras and journalists swarmed the tent as Maggie Beer ripped apart steak with her hands for all of us to taste - who was I to decline!  

It was delicious.  

Our main course consisted of my perfectly cut (if I do say so myself, even Matt Preston agreed!) potatoes  baked and fried in butter (my trainer clearly would not agree with this menu), atop the potato a beef brisket sidelined with a divine cut of steak adorned with steamed shallots and pickled onions, wasabi paste and onion puree.  I'm afraid most of it was prepared due to the numbers, however, I did learn how to make a quick wasabi vinaigrette  from scratch - feel free to email me for details.

Karl Stefanovic kicked off the show with the Qantas choir singing " I still call Australia home".  

Throughout the night, an opportunity to meet some of the CEO's, chefs, celebrity guests and of course our special guests of the night was welcomed.  Some of the stories were of adversity, sadness, reflection but also of optimism.  That's what Mission Australia and OzHarvest provides, is a chance to change their life.  

Jimmy Barnes finished off the night with a rocking performance bringing the house down and everyone on the dance floor.  

I finally got to sleep around midnight after reflecting on all of the excitement, passion, inspiration and enthusiasm for change and the positive impact each donation dollar had made.

If only for one night - people felt like celebrities - optimism overruled, the challenges of their lives put on hold - if only for an evening to know that people care and that we want to help, however and whenever we can.  

I'm proud to have represented the over $6000 worth of donations provided to support the close to 1 million dollar result.  

Congratulations to OzHarvest, Mission Australia and Qantas for an incredible initiative, one that I am very much looking forward to being a continuous contributor to in every which way.

Andrea Culligan

T:Acculligan

E: andrea@theunimailgroup.com

Andrea's Heating it up in the Kitchen

Oz Harvest, Mission Australia and Qantas have combined to put together the first ever CEO Cookoff. 

Over 100 CEO’s from around the country, put together with 28 of Australia’s best Chefs will see them feeding over 1000 homeless on February 6^th. 

Leaving Canada in the middle of 1998 without a plan or a thought towards what I was going to do, and with $300 in my pocket, I landed in Brisbane.  3 months into my journey I was robbed whilst I was sleeping.  He took everything I had, my passport, my wallet, my credit cards, even my sunglasses. 

At the time I was crazy enough to chase the offender through the campsite I was staying in and eventually catch him.  It was a dangerous act, and one of impulsive action but it was done through fear and terror of everything I had being taken away from me.  I only had $300 to my name and someone was ripping it out of my hands.

I had never been so scared and frightened.  I didn’t have a back up plan, or an option to get money from anywhere or anyone else.  I did what fear told me to do, without rhyme or reason and acted on it.

This fear was monumental, which makes me only imagine how significant it must be to feel that way every day of your life.  Hence why I’m so passionate about this opportunity to support and participate with the CEO Cookoff. 

Now, my cooking skills leave lots to be desired as pretty much everything I make tastes wonderful (or so my husband says) but looks shocking – so I’m really hoping that there are no scores for presentation!

The event kicks off on February 6^th where the likes of Alan Joyce and Neil Perry will showcase their talents or lack there of, combined with the rest of us mere mortals. 

I would love your support in helping me achieve my goal of $8000 towards the cause.  Each and every cent goes to Ozharvest and Mission Australia (Qantas is footing the bill for everything else) so to increase your support; I’ll sweeten the deal….

For donations $100 and OVER:

I’ll bake you something delicious (again, not it may not look good but taste wonderful)

I’ll video the process (this is not going to be pretty, but most likely hilarious)

I’ll send you the baked goods, the video and the ingredients to make it yourself (so you can make it look much better than mine)

You can find me here:

http://www.ceocookoff.com.au/profile/504

Every penny counts and helps someone in need so they dont' have to be afraid.

Thanks for your support ! 

Andrea Culligan

Twitter: Acculligan

andrea@theunimailgroup.com