Two of the biggest global food and beverage companies, Kraft and Heinz, merged in 2015. However, this did create some hurdles for the employer brand, such as how it defined its culture, who was their ideal candidate, and how they could go to market as a single employer. The companies had often used their products to attract talent, and authentic employee stories were not being given the platform they deserved. The company wanted to build a brand that told a global story as one company, could be used in different locations and with different groups of talent, and put existing and future employees at centre stage.

Working with Wiser, the teams conducted research drawing on more than 9,000 employee perspectives to understand the culture and employee experience. Employees revealed that they joined the company as a recognisable consumer brand and for stability, and stayed there because of opportunities for career growth and to ‘own’ projects and be accountable for results. It was decided to build an employer brand around the idea of ‘Growing greatness’. The message was transmitted globally in 15 locations, ensuring it felt meaningful and tailored to each one.

This meant it might use slightly different language in Mandarin versus Spanish, for example, and also adapted messages for varied talent audiences. Language might be more playful for early talent, and proud when communicating manufacturing roles. Film teams captured photography and footage of employees across multiple locations in order to showcase authentic employee stories. This was all packaged up into a playbook so the ‘growth’ message could be rolled out worldwide. Brand champions amplified the stories online, leading to significant increases in total post volume and followers. Business resource groups were also rebranded to match up with the employer brand visual identity. The whole campaign has drawn thousands of applications in hard-to-hire areas and driven down cost per hire to a fraction of the industry benchmark.