Are you an attractive employer?

Today another one of my articles about employer branding was published at driftig.nu
Come and visit. (Swedish)

The farmer

On Eastermonday I visited a farm. We went there to see the newborn calves, which we had heard about from people in the nearby town. Besides the calves, we ended up meeting cows, chicken, goats and kids, sheep and lambs, walk through dunghills and listen to stories about how the wolf in the forest stresses the cows so bad that they don´t get pregnant anymore. We were served boiled coffee and cookies baked from "raw milk". We were shown old traditional costumes and cliché-paintings on the walls. The whole farmhouse was like a museum with a lot of heart and heritage.

This farmer is very proud of his heritage and his homedistrict. He is also strongly engaged in how the farmers and their animals can get better living conditions. I can not imagine this farmer living in a big city. He would shrink into pieces from the different kind of stress, the lack of space and the anonymity. The city would not be sufficient for him.

I am impressed by his knowledge, his effectivity and his caring for the animals. He has a tough job - probably much tougher than many of us who may consider ourselves to be climbing up the career ladder. He fights wolves and politicians, while many of us focus on financial crises. He lives in harmony with nature, while many of us walk on asphalt most of the time.

This farmer has the strongest personal brand that I have met in a long time. I don´t think he has ever thought about that. I won´t tell him either. That would be too superficial and citylike.

Using humour and playfulness

The employees of Southwest airlines are given freedom to have fun with their customers. This often takes form in communicating important messages in humorous ways. Safety information is often presented in a song.

On one particular flight, the passengers experienced a rough landing. The flight attendant came on the speakers and apologized for the hard touch down. “I checked with the captain and he said it wasn’t his fault. I checked with the copilot and it wasn’t his fault, so we are going to determine that is was the asphalt.”

Since airline customers often experience discomforting situations like weather delays and security requirements, some humour can turn challenges into fun adventures. Southwest Airlines build their brand by using humour and playfulnes.

In 2007, Southwest Airlines was the airline with most passengers.

Standing in line for something good

I just came back from a skiingweekend in Switzerland, France & Italy. 3 days, 3 countries. Yesterday we waited in line for 45 minutes to catch the gondola to the top of Les Grands Montets (3 300 m), close to Chamonix. It was worth it. The sunny view towards Mont Blanc was great and skiing down the slopes was fantastic.



Photo: Mont Blanc, 4 810 m

Making people stand in line for something can be one way to build a brand. It signals attractivity. If so many people want to stand in line for this product or service, then so will I. Don´t go to restaurants that have no customers. Go to the crowded places - if you have the time and patience to wait for your turn... The crowded places usually have the best offers.



Photo: Exclusive trail

Some brands may be exclusive for a few clients through pricing or other attributes. Then many people may be interested, but they don´t have the assets to do the shopping.

So what I am saying is actually that there are different ways of building lines for a brand. One is through obvious lack of range, which makes people wait for their turn. The other is through thresholds which make it hard for some people to become clients although they may want to.

Go as far as you can see

"Go as far as you can see and when you get there, you will always be able to see farther."

Zig Ziglar

Earth Hour

From a hill just next to my house is the best view that you can get of Stockholm. Quite a few people gathered there to watch the effect of Earth Hour tonight. When we looked towards the city, not much changed as the clock struck 8.30 pm. All the streetlights were still on. When we looked in the other direction - towards Djurgården - it was quite different. Almost all the lights were turned off. Fascinating.

As I looked at the houses I was actually surprised that quite a few windows were still lit up by electric lights. Why? Did people forget about this or did they not care? Had they missed out on the information about this worldwide manifestation? Who knows. Still, most windows were dark or lit up by candles.

When the world can gather around a common cause like this, anything should be possible.



Photo: WWF

Secondary gains

Imagine that you are a smoker. Being a smoker may help you to fit into a certain personal image.
If you want to stop smoking for health or other reasons, you may still want to keep certain benefits in your personal image. This means that you need to find alternative ways of keeping or developing this image.

If some of your behaviors seem to be negative at first sight, there may be secondary gains that are positive. Find out what they are and find an alternative way of reaching them. Then it will be easier for you to stop your negative behaviors without loosing out on something.