TÜV SÜD is a Technical Inspection Association. It provides testing, certification, auditing and advisory services on the newest technology across various fields. This is a highly competitive market and top specialists are needed to ensure the company can hold its own against competitors. However, TÜV SÜD competes for talent with some of the world’s most ambitious companies, and technology experts do not necessarily have TÜV SÜD in mind when it comes to career prospects.
TÜV Süd asked us to:
Create an employer brand identity with corresponding visual expression and assets to help TÜV SÜD deliver on the following objectives:
- Acceptance and broad adoption of the brand within TÜV SÜD
- Significantly increased awareness of TÜV SÜD as an employer of choice
- The employer brand identity and corresponding visual expression had to be developed from scratch and ready for immediate, global and easy implementation.
- It also had to be applicable to TÜV SÜD’s entire, diverse business that spans all regions of the world.
STRATEGY AND EXECUTION
THE APPROACH
We discerned that technology experts worldwide are driven by three main forces. They strive to make a difference in the world, they want to venture to the edge of their limits and improve their skills, and they have a passion for technology. TÜV SÜD has a lot to offer in that vein. Despite the perception that TÜV SÜD engineers get the boring end of the stick, they really hold the power to influence how our world will be in the future. The company’s tech experts have the opportunity to provide safety for people around the world and the chance to pave the way for technological transformation.
THE CREATIVE IDEA
We shaped TÜV SÜD’s employer brand by focusing on one outstanding opportunity: that its employees shape the world of tomorrow. Therefore, we came up with one unifying theme for all markets: FUTURE IN YOUR HANDS. This speaks to the hearts of the target audience and refreshes the TÜV SÜD employer brand in an authentic way.
FUTURE IN YOUR HANDS combines TÜV SÜD’s
Employer Value Proposition with the three key drivers for talent:
- The aspiration for professional excellence
- The desire to leave a mark
- The passion for technology
THE CAMPAIGN
Real employees are authentically portrayed in their daily work. Depending on the driver we wanted to address, we showed the employees either in interaction with technology, connected to the world or in portrait style. To capture the attention and the interest of the target group, we wanted to show them that they will find a community of like-minded people at TÜV SÜD. In order to really deliver on that and convey a diverse image of TÜV SÜD, we developed the new employer brand together with experts from all TÜV SÜD business units and regions.
Everything was aligned in the implementation of the brand, – the messaging, the narrative, the design, the imagery, the tone of voice. We transferred the strong heritage and iconic octagon shape from the TÜV SÜD logo signet to a unique layout element.
We created a crisp, corporate and easily reproduceable look for imagery and for all channels. It reflected the communication pillars’ messages and included photos of real employees, building up an extensive global image pool.
RESULTS
Establishing a new employer brand is a long journey that should not only be seen as a design or communication project, but also as an opportunity to further develop the organization itself and actively change for the better.
One of the main KPIs for TÜV SÜD was the acceptance and adoption of the brand within their own organization, e.g. the HR departments in the global markets.
It became clear that the target group values the overarching and structured communication framework the new brand provides. Within a couple of months, the new employer brand was widely accepted and used on a global level. The measures also helped countries where recruiting is not yet so highly professionalized.
In November 2019, the project won the silver award from “Best Employer Brand”, a prestigious governing body that recognizes achievements in employer branding in the DACH-region.