Giving IBM consistency, efficiency and self-sufficiency across their global employer brand
Discover how Papirfly made life easier for IBM’s recruitment and branding teams in over 65 countries.
Papirfly empowers employer brand teams worldwide:
65+
countries served by Papirfly
28,000+
employees harnessing our employer brand software
10,000+
candidates recruited every year by brands using Papirfly
IBM’s challenge
A global pioneer in information technology for over 100 years, IBM has a presence in over 65 countries, employing more than 280,000 workers worldwide and recruiting tens of thousands of people every year.
With each region running its own marketing and recruitment teams, maintaining a consistent employer brand across all markets was an ongoing challenge for IBM. In addition to preserving the identity of their iconic brand, they also wanted to convey a modern, appealing and fun image for the next generation of candidates in a more seamless, efficient way.
Overcoming inefficiencies to maximise recruitment
Operating in many regions with different languages, cultures and traditions, IBM knew the importance of tailoring their employer branding to resonate with distinct audiences. However, this meant they relied on local marketing agencies to create these targeted assets – agencies that needed time to learn the complexities of the brand and develop these assets from scratch.
Senior branding staff would also devote several hours a week to reviewing the consistency of these assets. This created bottlenecks that impacted creativity, delayed campaigns and wasted resources, eating into time that IBM’s recruitment teams could better spend on strategic planning.
Furthermore, as a legacy brand in the technology sector, IBM wanted to invest time and energy into their employer brand, making it feel fresh and attractive to younger candidates. But establishing that image required consistent messaging on every recruitment channel, and the means for local teams to create relevant, compelling assets at speed.
“It is extremely important that how we go to market is consistent across the world. Anybody who touches or experiences IBM, whether they are a potential client, a business partner, or someone that may potentially join us as an employee, must have the exact same experience.”
Jo Bedford
Global Recruitment Brand Manager
IBM
Finding a platform for consistent, world-class recruitment
With a real desire to end the inconsistencies, delays and expenses preventing their employer brand from reaching its true potential, IBM began searching for a software solution that helped them attract top talent worldwide. They sought a platform that could:
- Empower their marketing and recruitment teams to create relevant, high-quality assets in-house, all consistent with their core brand identity
- Remove their reliance on local marketing agencies and the bottlenecks this would cause for their campaigns
- Enable them to tailor the language and imagery of branded assets with speed, ease and absolute assurance
With these goals in mind, IBM’s global recruitment team were immediately drawn to Papirfly’s all-in-one brand management platform. After researching our solution and speaking to our experts, they were excited to lock down consistency across their communications and make their talent acquisition efforts more productive.
“Life without Papirfly would be stressful. It would be slow, time-consuming, and costly. Now we have a system to create the assets we need very quickly. We can go to market much faster, we can react to our business and our clients a lot quicker, and it is also extremely cost-effective.
We have not received one negative piece of feedback about Papirfly since we started using it – everybody loves it!”
Jo Bedford
Global Recruitment Brand Manager
IBM
A revolutionary new way of working for a historic brand
Within months of implementing Papirfly’s platform, IBM’s worldwide branding and recruitment teams immediately felt a shift. Now, they have the tools to present a harmonious brand identity at every touchpoint, customise assets for local markets and improve collaboration across the globe – all while making life easier for their professionals.
A universal home for their employer brand
The sheer scale and spread of IBM’s operations previously made it hard to keep their teams up to date with the latest brand guidelines. Papirfly’s platform allowed them to create a dedicated brand hub that their teams could always refer to.
Asset guidelines, standards and templates in one accessible, digital space. Teams aligned to the core messaging. By establishing a home for IBM’s employer brand, they helped maintain brand consistency across the board.
This central hub is complemented by a powerful, easy-to-use Digital Asset Management system. Providing a single source of truth for all on-brand materials and collateral, IBM’s teams could seamlessly add, share and manage an unlimited amount of assets for their recruitment campaigns. Plus, with clear tags and flexible access settings, each location’s teams could only access assets relevant to their audiences.
Fast, on-brand asset creation – both globally and locally
After years of reliance on external marketing agencies and senior branding staff, Papirfly’s platform has revolutionised the speed and ease of IBM’s asset creation. Through intuitive on-brand design templates, they can produce fresh materials in minutes, in any language they require, without any risk of breaking their brand guidelines.
This has not only allowed IBM to take much of their employer branding in-house, eliminating the cost and hassle of local agencies. It has enabled any IBM employee to play an active role in promoting their employer brand, forming deeper connections to their organisation than they had before.
Furthermore, campaign planning and execution became so much simpler for IBM’s recruitment teams, with collaborative workflow and approval processes embedded within their platform. This ensures their recruitment campaigns are coordinated from a global to local level, and regional teams can swiftly respond to trends that enhance their promotions.
“Our local teams find Papirfly really easy to use. They can go in and select the languages, they can fully customise all assets. It allows them to be part of the employer brand where there may have been a disconnect previously, and places them right at the forefront of what they’re taking to market in their local countries.”
Matt Humphreys
Global Talent Marketing Brand Experience, Social and Content Manager
IBM
Driving the success of IBM’s recruitment efforts
In a highly competitive market for tech-savvy recruits, Papirfly’s platform has equipped IBM’s recruitment teams with the tools to reach top talent efficiently and effectively. Once lengthy and painful processes have been replaced with fast turnaround times, localised campaigns and greater coordination – all with complete consistency at the core.
With IBM’s employees revelling in the speed, scale and simplicity of our software, activating their employer brand is easier than ever. Plus, with on-brand collateral reaching local markets at a constant pace, IBM’s recruitment leaders can now focus more on the evolution of their branding, and worry less about the consistency of their output.
“My day-to-day life has changed so much since we implemented Papirfly. I used to spend a lot of time creating assets from scratch through a lengthy process. Now I log onto Papirfly and within a minute I have a social tile ready to use with the exact text I want on it.”
Ella Slade
Global Recruitment Communications Specialist
IBM
