Storytelling might be the most overused word in employer branding. Every company claims to tell stories, yet most of the content being produced sounds the same from one company to the next, and AI is about to make the problem significantly worse by flooding every channel with even more identikit messaging.
At the same time, the science behind how stories work on the human brain is well established, comprehensive, and much harder to apply than most people realise. The employers who understand it are creating content that connects on an emotional level, while everyone else is just adding to the noise.
So what separates real storytelling from content that just claims to be a story?
My guest this week is Susanna Rantanen, founder of Employer Branding Agency Emine and author of the book Story-Driven Employer Branding. In our conversation, she shares why so much storytelling isn't storytelling at all, what the science tells us about how stories persuade, and how employers can use them to attract and retain the right people.
In the interview, we discuss:
The biggest current challenges in Employer Branding
Why branding is a long-term play, not a short-term campaign
The internal audience employers overlook
Attracting the right people via meaning, relevance, and emotion
Why most Employer Brand storytelling isn't storytelling at all
The science of how stories work on the human brain
How does proper storytelling work in practice
The current and future impact of AI
What does the future of employer branding look like?