How ODEON designed its employer brand strategy

Congratulations to the winners of this week’s inaugural Employer Brand Management Awards.

The Grand Prix award went to ODEON and Synergy Creative for “redefining its employer brand strategy and creating immersive experiences for staff to foster a stronger sense of community and fun within the company.”  (See the grey box a bit further down for more info).

Developing and protecting an organisation’s reputation as an employer is important, not only to attract and retain employees, but for a company’s efficiency, brand value and sustainability.

EBMAThe awards in London on Tuesday night celebrated excellence in creating a successful employer brand and benchmarked the companies that are best able to attract and keep employees.

Andrew Thomas, founder of Cravenhill Publishing, says: “The Employer Brand Management Awards goes beyond staff attraction and retention – it is about an organisation’s reputation.

“An organisation can guide and position its own reputation, but it does not own it; ownership is bestowed to an organisation by its audiences or, to use an unfashionable term, its stakeholders.

“Stakeholders that include, among others, its customers, its investors and its staff and potential staff. The awards focused on that last group, by examining the organisation’s reputation as an employer.”

EBMAwards

What ODEON and Synergy Creative did…

ODEON & UCI Cinemas Group needed to ensure its staff contributed to the fun and immersive experience of going to the cinema.

Anticipating 2015’s slew of big releases – from Star Wars to Fifty Shades of Grey – ODEON partnered with Synergy Creative to give its staff a starring role in the blockbuster bonanza.

Odeon However, this was not a one-off engagement project, it was a long-term engagement strategy with an insight-driven employer brand, EVP and employer brand design.

Following a period of extensive research, ODEON developed an inspiring employer brand strategy that included vision and values campaigns, an update to employee touchpoints, new training initiatives, incentives and the promotion of ‘brand heroes’. Employees were asked to deliver, ‘Inspiring Entertainment Experiences for Every Guest.’

The new brand promises that, as well as having fun, ODEON employees can learn skills that will prepare them for life outside of the business, though there is the opportunity for them to build a fun and long-term career with the multiplex brand if they choose to.

OdeonvaluesODEON’s employees were quick to respond, with 98% expressing support for the new vision and values – translating into a more engaged team and red carpet service for customers.

The campaign has already helped to future-proof ODEON’s business, attract quality employees and inspire teams to higher standards of service – all contributing to a successful year for the cinema icons.

With such high levels of internal and external support, ODEON’s campaign received ve star reviews all round. Our judges praised ODEON and Synergy Creative for their holistic approach, understanding of employer brand and ongoing commitment to their strategy.

Who won what

The ‘Best creative execution of the employer brand’ award went to Lucite International and the Allotment for a colourful and exciting programme that sought to unite Lucite’s 2,200 global employees behind a common purpose.

EBMA AwardsOther winners included TfL for its digital employer brand campaign, ING for ‘Best management of employer brand through major corporate change,’ Aldi for its external communications, the British Army for its recruitment and employer brand campaign and Fitness First for its work on the employer brand following a major international rebrand last year.

Andrew said: “It is as likely that the Employer Brand Management Awards winners excel in their investor relations, their customer communications or their supply chain management as they do in their employer brand management.

“As much as they understand employer brand management, this year’s winners understand all areas of stakeholder communications. They set the benchmark for employer brand management and for brand communications.”

Further reading: The value of a strong employer brand strategy.

The full list of winners:

Best alignment of the employer value proposition with corporate brand values
Gold – Fitness First
Silver – Amplifon and Hodes
Silver – Avon
Silver – VSO
Bronze – Dixons Carphone and Hodes

Best short-term or one-off employer brand campaign 
Gold – Lucite International and The Allotment
Gold – McDonald’s and ThirtyThree
Silver – The British Army and ThirtyThree
Bronze – Transport for London (TfL)
Highly commended – Heathrow Airport and Blackbridge Communications
Highly commended – Schillings and Goosebumps Brand Consultancy

Best employer brand management innovation
Gold – Autism at Work by SAP SE
Silver – Serco and Industry
Bronze – Employment Brand Menu by SAP SE

Best communication of the employer brand to the external audience
Gold – Aldi and Penna
Silver – SAP SE
Silver – GCHQ and Penna
Bronze – IHG
Highly commended – BP
Highly commended – E.ON and Blackbridge Communications
Highly commended – Serco and Industry

Best communication of the employer brand to the internal audience
Gold – BMW Group UK
Silver – ING
Bronze – Deutsche Bank and ThirtyThree
Bronze – Müller UK & Ireland and Emperor
Bronze – Schillings and Goosebumps Brand Consultancy

Best diversity branding
Gold – SAP SE
Silver – E.ON and Blackbridge Communications

Best digital campaign 
Gold – Transport for London (TfL)
Silver – SAP SE
Silver – GCHQ and Penna
Highly commended – Hyundai and Penna

Best use of employer brand in customer marketing
Silver – BW: Workplace Experts
Bronze – Rexel Nederland

Best management of employer brand through major corporate change
Gold – ING
Silver – Haringey and Penna
Bronze – Dixons Carphone and Hodes
Bronze – OneFamily and Cherry Tiger
Highly commended – Müller UK and Ireland and Emperor

Best ongoing commitment to employer brand management
Gold – ODEON and Synergy
Silver – IHG
Bronze – SAP SE
Highly commended – Dixons Carphone and Hodes

Best creative execution of the employer brand 
Lucite International and The Allotment

Grand Prix of employer brand management 2016 
ODEON and Synergy.

Congratulations to you all.

Transform Magazine has just announced its Transform Europe conference is taking place on 7 July. Their third annual Employer Brand Management conference will be in central London in December.

Post author: Rachel Miller.

First published on the All Things IC blog 28 April 2016.

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