The cold, hard facts of employer branding
Universities are in essence huge, diverse and inquisitive. Our challenge to take all of KU Leuven and condense it into one image was too. Sum up all characteristics of Europe’s oldest Catholic university in a couple of words?
Things turned out a bit different, in the end. As usual. Our creative team started from a couple of key memes associated with KU Leuven: innovation, discovery, aspiration.
The result? A futuristic concept, tailor-made to fit their international identity: Inspiring the outstanding.
Uncover the authentic employer brand
Do you feel the warmth of a nurturing, educational institute? We didn’t either. Something was missing: the warmth of colleagues working together to reach an admirable goal. Higher education at the cutting edge of scientific research is not about the technology of tomorrow, but about the people of today. We decided to let the people come to the forefront. Sort of. Because we weren’t there yet.
Taking HR marketing to the streets
Do you see the two huge contradictions in our concepts?
- centuries of tradition vs. cutting-edge research
- challenging workplace vs. nurturing home
To integrate two such extremes in one concept, you have to get to the core of KU Leuven: authenticity. Ambition. Drive. And that’s when it struck: the right employer brand for KU Leuven was never about the perfect picture or the right words. It’s about being true to yourself. About showing what it’s really like to work somewhere. To give a glimpse behind the curtain without filter. To show a situation as a journalist would.
1 team, 2 cars, ∞ brand impressions
Gathering enough material for an honest and dynamic report requires long-term commitment from both sides. The Craft team looked for an exceptional photographer and, together, visited the university on a regular basis. To wander around. To hunt for stories. To shoot pictures that show what makes KU Leuven unique.
No contrived images, built upon a shaky foundation of HR clichés. Our journalistic concept envelops both the KU Leuven’s inspirational claim to greatness and its fundamentally human qualities as an employer – all with true stories, true people, straight from the streets of Leuven.
