Behind the scenes: an authentic approach to employer branding

Knockout new employer brand film for EY launches.

We love to amplify voices from across the organisations we work with, but when it comes to social sharing that’s often something we encourage rather than control.

So when EY’s employer branding team came to us with a brief to help them encourage more experienced hires to join the professional services firm, we set all our storytelling and advocacy experience towards the challenge.

Our solution? A film series featuring real EY colleagues sharing their own unique perspectives on why they joined – and why they stay – at EY.

“The joy of this project is its many layers. After focusing on the hero film, we got stuck into the 10 social edits. It was always the ambition behind the creative, to have real people front and centre, and these edits allowed us to delve into the personal stories of real EY colleagues. They are the heart of this campaign.”

The first film in the series is now live. It sets the scene for all the films to follow – where we’ll feature each of the contributors’ powerful stories separately.

Some of the principles we applied to this project

• Inclusion at the heart of everything – we wanted broad representation of people and the different roles and teams with EY
• In their own words – our job was to ask the right questions to help people express themselves confidently and authentically
• A distinctive approach – from the set to the lights and the script to the soundtrack, we wanted to create a bold and unexpected spotlight on what it’s really like to work at EY
• Trialled and tested – we sourced the key messages we chose to highlight in the films from colleague focus groups – they reflect the real employee experience at EY
• A few bites of the cherry – powerful films create an instant impact, but can then get lost in the noise; we wanted to create a series to showcase many different angles of the same story over the coming weeks and months, and across multiple channels including LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

We’re so proud of the result and the feedback that it’s already gathering from employees – who are sharing and amplifying the message on their own channels.

“This powerful video really resonates with me.

“I used to think a career in massive companies like EY would mean you would easily get lost amongst the many voices and faces.

“But here at EY, I don’t just feel heard – I feel valued, respected and like I belong. There is so much investment in me that goes well beyond ensuring I have everything I need to do a great job; the investment encourages me to be the best I can be in every way (in work and in my personal life). I have loved my journey at EY so far, and I can’t wait to see where it leads me in the future.”

EMPLOYEE ONE

“I am so privileged every day to work at a company who actual practice those values written on the walls! I’m so privileged to work with such inspiring, supportive and forward thinking people; my EY family. I’m so privileged to work in this culture of empowerment that is EY!”

EMPLOYEE TWO

“I love what I do 🫶”

EMPLOYEE THREE