Were the direction of travel following any other trajectory, we might be concerned about the sudden rush brands are making towards the moral high ground. There appears overwhelming evidence that we are living in a time whereby brands are increasingly sensitive to public sentiment and the prevailing zeitgeist. Perhaps it is too cynical to wonder whether such actions are genuinely prompted by a desire to do the right thing and opt for the right choices or are simply driven by paranoia about consumer reactions. However, there appears to be no shortage of relevant examples.
The world of sport – not necessarily a natural home to towering standards of behaviour and ethics – has thrown up any number of recent examples of brands acting swiftly and decisively. The aftermath of the global athletics doping scandal and the IAAF’s, at best, inaction and, at worst, its complicity in the matter saw key partner, Adidas, walking away from its sponsorship of the body a whole four years early.
Equally decisive were Nike shortly afterwards, following the boxer Manny Pacquaio’s appallingly homophobic outburst that gays ‘were worse than animals’. The sports company again parted commercial company with the boxer come politician at some pace.
Last month too, and to no one’s great surprise, Adidas tore up footballer Adam Johnson’s boot contract as soon as the now convicted paedophile admitted to grooming offences.
Guinness too have been adopting a consumer messaging stance which speaks to both its heritage and its commitment to ethics, integrity and brand purpose. Its most recent advertising has focused on the figure of John Hammond, a white jazz producer in the 1930s who, against a fierce backdrop of racial intolerance, brought black and white musicians together, discovered and secured radio time for the likes of Billie Holiday, Count Basie and Aretha Franklin.
All of these brands have demonstrated bravery, strength of purpose and a desire to do the right thing. Something Nigel Gilbert, Chief Marketing Officer at TSB, appears to echo, ‘The most important thing about brand purpose is integrity. If you believe in why you’re doing something, then it’s an incredibly powerful thing’.
It would appear, however, that not everyone has taken on board the wise words of Mr Gilbert.
Witness the recent BBC publication of the Savile report from Dame Janet Smith. That the corporation appears hugely keen for no one at any sort of level to take responsibility for the DJ’s heinous activities over several decades seems unfathomable and an example of corporate cowardice.
VW seem incapable of putting the emissions scandal behind them by, so to speak, coming clean. Just this week, The Guardian reported that the firm’s former CEO, Martin Winterkorn, knew about the glaring anomalies between real life emission levels and those reported through testing a whole year before he originally admitted. It’s probably not a massive coincidence that VW’s US sales have declined – in a strong economy – by 25% between November 2014 and the same month a year later.
But, despite these two examples, if we are seeing an ethical scramble towards the moral high ground, what sort of contribution are employer brands making?
How did LinkedIn’s CEO, Jeff Weiner respond to a sharp decline in share value just this week? By donating his $14m stock bonus to his employees.
Similarly impressive was the reaction of recently appointed Credit Suisse CEO, Tidjane Thiam to a disappointing quarter reported in February – ‘I have asked the board of directors for a significant reduction in my bonus’ (thought to be in the realms of a 60% cut).
All very noble and unlikely to play to any sort of audience in anything other than positive terms. However, what is the likely outcome of an organisation demonstrating bravery, employer brand purpose and a high ethical bar?
Two interesting examples come to light.
However we respond to the fascinating figure of Sir Richard Branson, we instinctively sense his courage around doing the right thing. The brands under the Virgin umbrella are rarely seen in anything other than a positive light. And that applies as much to their talent brands as their consumer positioning. The impact of this was highlighted via some research earlier in the year from the Office of Rail and Road. According to their findings, around 10% of all rail delays and cancellations are down to a shortage of staff. For the worst offenders – take a bow, London Midland and First Transpennine Express – the figure was over 13.5%.
Let’s just think about that for a moment. For the likes of London Midland, comfortably over one in ten delays is down to the organisation not being able to hire, retain, motivate, engage and inspire its people.
For Virgin East Coast, the comparable figure is 2.6%. Their employer brand, its openness, its approachability and its honesty is making a clear and measurable difference to both the consumer experience and Virgin’s bottom line.
Unilever are another organisation making a significant investment in an employer brand which speaks to sustainability and employee contribution. Unilever recently placed first in Radley Yeldar’s index of the organisations most successfully incorporating brand purpose. It is the third most sought after employer globally on LinkedIn, with around half of graduates suggesting that Unilever’s ethical and sustainability approach was the prime reason for wanting to engage with the company.
Making tough calls, being honest, open and ethical isn’t simply about doing the right thing for the likes of Virgin and Unilever, it’s about creating the right outcomes. An engaged internal talent pool, enthusiastic to contribute and external candidate audiences keen for a part of just such action.
And it has rarely been so important. Even at a time when questions are being asked of the UK economy, with service growth looking peaky, unemployment has declined to just 5.1% – an eleven year low – and 521,000 more people are working than a year previously.
Recent research this month from Korn Ferry suggests that 75% of talent acquisition leaders say that an employer brand significantly impacts on their ability to hire.
And who are we to argue? However, such influence can work in both directions.
And the key question is, in what way does your employer brand and its propensity to make the right calls and, indeed, to enable your people to do the right things, influence your current ability to hire?
Getting to the heart of your employee mindset 
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