Employer Branding: Why Branding Isn’t Just for Customers Anymore
When Talent Shops for Employers
Think back to the last university career fair you attended. Which companies had the biggest queues? Chances are it was brands like Unilever, Dialog Axiata, or Virtusa, long before students knew the salary or the job descriptions. This behavior reveals a powerful shift that today’s graduates don’t just seek jobs, they choose brands
In the era of social media and digital existence, the concept of employer branding has redefined the interface between talent and organizations.
Understanding Employer Branding
Backhaus and Tikoo (2004) define employer branding as the strategic process by which companies influence both current and potential employees’ perceptions of what it is like to work for them. This involves two interconnected scopes, which is
- External Brand: How prospective employees perceive the organization
- Internal Brand: The present and past employee experience and organizational culture
Employer Branding Framework – adapted from Backhaus & Tikoo, 2004
(Shows the external-internal brand loop and its effect on performance and brand loyalty)
Branding Beyond Salary
Let’s compare two employer branding strategies in the Sri Lankan market
- Dialog Axiata appeals to new graduates with its blend of innovation, CSR credentials, and youth culture campaigns (e.g. “Dialog IdeaMart”).
- Brandix, by contrast, emphasizes wellbeing and purpose in its talent messaging - “Inspired Solutions for Sustainability.”
Each uses branding not just to fill vacancies, but to shape perceptions and inspire belonging.
Internationally- Patagonia (Global)
Patagonia takes employer branding beyond products and culture. It makes activism its identity. Employees are paid to protest, work in environmental NGOs, or explore wilderness. For them, purpose is the brand.
More details: https://www.patagonia.com/activism/
The Gap Between Brand and Reality
Employer branding however, risks becoming performative if values are not mirrored in everyday experience. A KPMG (2021) study found that 46% of workers felt their company’s external brand did not match the internal employee reality.
This gap leads to mistrust and attrition causing the anti-brand effect.
Reflection
As an emerging leader, this topic strengthened the importance of integrating brand strategy with employee value proposition and organizational behavior. The question isn't what’s our employer brand? but how do we live it
References
Backhaus, K. and Tikoo, S. (2004) ‘Conceptualizing and Researching Employer Branding’, Career Development International, 9(5), pp. 501–517.
KPMG (2021) Employer Branding and Employee Experience: Global Study.
Dialog Axiata (2025) ‘Careers at Dialog’, Available at: https://www.dialog.lk/careers
Patagonia (2025) ‘Environmental & Social Responsibility’, Available at: https://www.patagonia.com/activism/
Open for feedback,,,
Does employer branding work if it’s only communicated, but not practiced?
This essay demonstrates how employer branding has emerged as a key element in luring top personnel. As demonstrated by Dialogue Axiata, Brandix, and Patagonia, branding encompasses culture, purpose, and lived values in addition to income. Particularly potent is the admonition that branding runs the risk of becoming performative if it is not in line with actual reality. The true difficulty for leaders is to live up to the brand on a daily basis, not to define it.
ReplyDeleteYou have captured it well. Real strength of employer banding comes from how an organization lives their values and how consistent they are on it. Not on communicating them alone. Your point on performative is important as a misalignment between promise and reality can damage the trust
DeleteThis reflection provides a clear and compelling exploration of employer branding, emphasizing its critical role in attracting, engaging, and retaining talent in today’s digital and social media-driven environment. The use of both local examples like Dialog Axiata and Brandix, alongside global brands such as Patagonia, effectively illustrates how employer branding can go beyond compensation to convey purpose, culture, and values. I particularly appreciate the focus on the internal-external brand alignment and the risks of performative branding, supported by evidence from KPMG. The reflection demonstrates strong insight into how authentic employer branding shapes employee experience and organizational loyalty, and it shows thoughtful consideration of how future HR leaders can integrate brand strategy with people management practices.
ReplyDeleteI agree that employer branding is powerful only when purpose, culture and lived values are in alignment. Your point on internal and external branding alignment is where organizations struggle at most. Really appreciate the fact that you highlighted the leadership responsibility in maintaining authenticity.
DeleteThis article offers an excellent analysis of the crucial shift in talent acquisition, highlighting the powerful insight that candidates are now primarily "shopping for employers" and choosing the brand, rather than just the job. This analysis is particularly strong in its emphasis that true success in employer branding requires a genuine integration of the brand strategy with the employee value proposition, moving beyond mere communication to truly 'living' those values within the organization's daily behavior. This is a valuable and forward-thinking perspective for any emerging leader focused on strategic resourcing.
ReplyDeleteAgree that todays candidates are choosing employers based on authenticity & lived values rather than just job titles. Your point about aligning employer branding with the real employee experience is important as without same the integration of the brand simply wouldn't hold. Your empahsis on the shift toward candidates shopping for culture & purpose is more of a critical mindset for modern strategic resourcing
DeleteIt’s fascinating how today’s graduates aren’t just looking for jobs—they’re shopping for brands that align with their values. Dialog and Brandix show how purpose and culture can be just as powerful as salary, and Patagonia takes it to the next level by making activism part of the work experience. Employer branding really is the new talent magnet!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely right that todays graduates are placing just as much weight on values, purpose, & culture as they do on pay. Employer branding really has become one of the strongest magnets in the talent market today
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ReplyDeleteThis blog offers a concise and insightful overview of employer branding, effectively connecting theory—such as Backhaus and Tikoo’s (2004) framework—to contemporary practices in both Sri Lankan and global contexts. Your comparison of Dialogue Axiata, Brandix and Patagonia adds strong practical relevance. The conversation about the brand-reality gap is especially insightful since it draws attention to a crucial problem that many businesses ignore. However, incorporating current empirical research on how digital platforms affect employer brand authenticity could improve the analysis even more. Overall, this is a well-structured and thought-provoking piece that meaningfully connects employer branding to organisational behaviour and employee value propositions.
ReplyDeleteYour point about the influence of digital platforms is very relevant because authenticity is now judged in real time & often shaped by employee generated content as much as official branding. It is an area that definitely deserves deeper exploration. Thank you for opening up an important angle for further discussion
DeleteThis is an insightful article which clearly shows why employer branding is required to attract talent in the digital era. The examples used make it clear that candidates look for purpose and identity rather than the pay. I also commend the reminder that branding can cause a gap between the external brand of the company and the internal reality.
ReplyDeleteYes, in todays digital age, employer branding indeed plays a critical role in attracting talent. It is true that many candidates now seek purpose & identity, not just salary. I also agree that the risk of a mismatch between external branding & internal reality is real. Building a consistent employer brand requires aligning promises with day to day experience
DeleteRomana, this can be considered as a more concise and well-articulated blog that clearly demonstrates how employer branding now shapes talent attraction as powerfully as customer branding shapes markets. The integration of theory with strong Sri Lankan and global examples adds excellent practical relevance. The insight on the gap between external image and internal reality is particularly impactful. To enhance it further, a brief discussion on how HR can measure employer brand effectiveness through data and engagement metrics would strengthen its strategic application.
ReplyDeleteYou have highlighted an important next step in measuring the effectiveness of employer branding. As branding becomes more central to talent strategy, HR will increasingly need evidence from data such as candidate sentiment, application quality, social media engagement & employee experience surveys to understand how the brand is actually landing. These insights can help organizations close any gaps between perception & reality and also refine their value proposition over time
DeleteEmployer branding is more and more important for getting and keeping talent. It's not just about pay, but also about culture and what it's like to work there (Backhaus & Tikoo, 2004).
ReplyDeleteDialog Axiata, Brandix, and Patagonia show how real branding can make workers feel like they belong and that they care. But, if what a company says it's like to work there isn't real, people won't trust it and will leave (KPMG, 2021). So, what a company says about itself needs to match what it actually does to build trust and keep workers around. This is a well structured piece!
Yes, the strength of an employer brand really depends on how closely the lived employee experience matches what the organization communicates. When those two align, it creates trust and long term loyalty. When they don’t, even strong branding loses credibility quickly. It is interesting to see how more companies are now focusing on consistency between culture, behaviors & messaging rather than just outward promotion
DeleteThis is an excellent article. You have discussed how employer branding has evolved into a strategic talent attraction tool that extends far beyond salary or job descriptions. And also, you have discussed Backhaus and Tikoo’s framework, you clearly distinguish between external perceptions and internal employee experience, emphasizing that true branding emerges from alignment between the two. Furthermore, you have discussed the examples from Sri Lanka and global firms like Patagonia effectively illustrate how different organizations craft unique value propositions to resonate with diverse talent pools.
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