Factor: Industry Image - The Ad Industry and its aweful Employer Image

Translated from Jannis Tsalikis' blog entry: Faktor Branchenimage - Beispiel: Die Werbebranche und ihr schlechtes Arbeitgeberimage

In many Employer Branding - Models the industry image plays as actually quite contributing factor a smaller role for the Employer Image of companies. A mistake. It is obvious that the industry image influences the attractivity of corporate brands, and with it its employer brand. (For instance, if fluent in German, check this University paper, page 28, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Christoph Burmann, Das Branchenimage als Determinante der Unternehmensmarkenprofilierung, 2005).

Important "Players" for a good image of an industry are the big, well-known companies of the industry itself as well as the regarding associations, as they are the ones who has the take care of the very industry.

How you should not do it, well, that shows one industry as best, erm worst example: the ad industry.

Since working in this industry (for over 10 years) hardly anything has changed on the fact of "advertiser" being one of the most unfavored vocation.  The image is not new...
Certainly, the in August open letter released by a couple of students from University Pforzheim from Werbeliebe, an association who actually love advertising, is not the first warning to the ad industry. But instead of becoming active and cope with the situation finding a proper solution, the GWA, the association of advertisment agencies reacted (with an attitude *EN), demanding a definition of "appreciation"

Is advertisment really like this!? 39,90 

Last evening, in preparation for this blog post, I started a mini survey (anonymous, 2 questions), asking HR Manager I know. The seven well-experienced colleagues from well-known agencies asked all agreed with me. All answered regarding the sentence: "The GWA engages noticeably for the employer attractivity of the industry, especially regarding winning young talents" with the same - not aggreeing. If the GWA actually understands the signs in this content (this was the second question) is questionable. Here HR's are at odds.

But what to do when the association doesn't do anything? Resign the membership like Serviceplan did? Surely saves a lot of money but won't help solving the problem. 

Catastrophy as a chance? You cannot really free yourself from the industry image. With good Personnel- and Self-PR, however, singly companies can strive and steer against it. This means, though, companies will have to face and appreciate critics and not talk/make them small. In doubt, this means to walk new paths boldly.

Jannis