Interesting article in this week’s Economist which makes the case that Chinese consumers are ending their love affairs with fakes and copies and are both willing and able to pay more for the real thing. The piece is supported by McKInsey research which suggests that just 12% of Chinese consumers today are willing to part with money for fake products, as compared to 31% in 2008.
There is also anecdotal research suggesting that ridicule is now being heaped upon those possessing obviously fake brands, according to the China Europe International Business School. Part of this evolution is down to the growing disposable income in the pockets of Chinese consumers as well as the emergence of domestic brands such as Lenovo.
What then are the learnings for employer branding?
Authenticity is key. No organisation or employer is a carbon copy of another. Each company or body has its own organisational challenges, opportunities, products, markets, consumers and, importantly, talent groups. If each organisation possesses subtle, and some not so subtle, differences, these should form the basis of its employer brand and the value proposition messages it applies to both internal employee audiences and external candidate markets. Above all, what makes up this value proposition should be unique, differentiated, ownable and, yes, authentic.
And just as consumers, not just Chinese ones, are less and less likely to put up with fake product brands, so fewer and fewer employees want anything to do with non-authentic employer brands. The employer brand they come across in a recruitment space when they come to change jobs better be the genuine article they are going to encounter as both candidates and then joiners and employees.
And just as the experience of a consumer will not be enhanced by exposure to bogus product, candidates are likely to have short and unfulfilling relationships with employers who don’t deliver the authentic employment experience their recruitment promises make.
Getting to the heart of your employee mindset 