Background Check: IBM & Uncubed Studios vs. IBM &...Someone Else
By Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza
A few years ago, Uncubed Studios partnered with tech giant IBM to create an anthem video to banner their employer identity—used on their career page, job board presence, and social media.
In this month’s edition of Background Check, we’re putting our own IBM campaign up against a new one. We’ll do our best to be fair. Sort of.
What’s an anthem video, you ask?
A brand anthem video, sometimes called an image video, about who the company is, not what they make. It’s meant to convey the brand’s identity, its values, its mission, and goals. You might have one anthem video that’s consumer-facing, and another that’s candidate-facing.
Imagine You at IBM
When IBM came to us, they made it clear they didn't want to be seen as “your dad’s tech company.” They wanted potential candidates to know they were producing meaningful, life-changing technology. IBM competes with the Apples and Googles of the world for talent, and they needed help making their work relevant to a new, tech-native generation.
To make the company relevant to job seekers, we created Imagine You at IBM, a minute-and-a-half long anthem video aimed at helping potential applicants picture the kind of impactful work they might do at the company.
The video is simple in execution: original + stock video layered with language. For example:
Imagine you
Harnessing cognitive computing
For empowering doctors and researchers
To fight cancer and diabetes
Imagine you
Using blockchain technology
For a recycling marketplace
To clean oceans
What’s working
An anthem video is about brand identity, but if it’s unique to employer brand identity, you have to help candidates relate. With Imagine You, we laid out ways job seekers would directly contribute to the meaningful work the company is doing, sending the message that individual contributions matter.
IBM &...we’re not sure
We don’t want to name names here, so we’ll just call the creator of IBM’s current brand video Anonymous. How...mysterious. But it’s not us.
This one looks modern and fresh. There are images of attractive people of a variety ages and races and inspirational voice-overs that say things like, I invented the UPC barcode, transforming the way retailers track and store inventory, and Since the 1910s, I’ve advocated for the hiring of more employees with disabilities, decades before the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Achievements and virtues that can be attributed to IBM.
What’s working
This video uses both voiceover and captions, supporting both those with hearing and vision impairments.
It’s a beautifully shot piece. The video is loaded with bright, original video. It looks modern and updated. But note: It would appear that the people featured in the video are not IBM employees at all (more on that later).
What’s not working
This video robs employees of their identity, of their contributions as an individual. Instead of saying, you’re a person, they’re saying, you’re IBM. They’ve dehumanized workers and stripped them of the right to boast about individual accomplishments.
The video is also misleading. When a voice says, I invented the UPC barcode, transforming the way retailers track and store inventory, we see a young woman, no more than thirty years old. But UPCs were invented in the 1970s. When we hear, Since the 1910s, I’ve advocated for the hiring of more employees with disabilities, decades before the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, we see a young man, also no more than 30, who probably wasn’t alive when the first Bush administration passed the ADA.
And the winner is...
We’re going to call this one even.
Anonymous’ technical execution is stronger than ours, though in the years since we created Imagine You, we’ve grown to match it. Polished, modern, original video can make a huge difference when constructing your employer brand identity.
But our message wins. Employees don’t want to feel like they’ll disappear into a large, faceless company that will take credit for their contributions. They want to know how they, as an individual, will contribute and shine.
Further, relying on tired devices like I am _____ or We are _____ anonymizes the employee experience even more. Spending time working for an employer IS personal, not something that can be wrapped within a bland blanket statement. Your employee has a name, a face, and mind that deserves more.
Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza writes about workplace culture, DEI, and hiring. Her work has appeared in Fast Company, From Day One, and InHerSight, among others.
ABOUT UNCUBED STUDIOS
Launched in 2016, Uncubed Studios is a full-service creative agency with a client list representing the most influential employers on earth along with the high growth tech companies.
The team that brings the work of Uncubed Studios to life is made up of award-winning experts in cinematography, journalism, production, recruitment, employee engagement, employer branding and more.
Uncubed Studios is part of the Uncubed Group, which also includes Mediabistro, the leading talent & professional community in the media sector, and Finalist, the curated sourcing platform for early professional tech talent.
Interested in speaking with Uncubed Studios for a media opportunity? Contact studios@uncubed.com
