In this episode of VMJPod’s Employer Brand Series, hosts David Macciocca and Brie Mason are joined by employer brand expert Daniel Connolly, to unpack one of the biggest challenges facing employer brand teams today: proving value.

Daniel shares how employer brand teams can move beyond reactive requests and position their work as a solution to real business problems. Drawing on experience across employer brand, employee experience, learning and organisational development, he breaks down how to diagnose the root issue, build a compelling brief, and align talent attraction activity with commercial outcomes.

The conversation explores what makes a strong employer brand brief, how marketing principles can strengthen credibility, and why validating insights with the business is just as important as gathering them. Daniel also reflects on measuring ROI, keeping stakeholders engaged throughout a campaign, and using data and storytelling to earn long-term trust and investment.

This episode is a must-listen for employer brand, TA and people leaders looking to secure buy-in, funding and impact through smarter, more commercial thinking.

Key topics
01:10 – Daniel’s background across employer brand, employee experience, learning and organisational development.
03:20 – Why employer brand often becomes reactive and why starting with a business case matters.
05:10 – How employer brand work usually surfaces through Talent Acquisition and TA business partners.
07:00 – Diagnosing the real problem: attraction, retention or capability gaps.
09:10 – Why recruiter insight alone is not enough and the need for multiple data sources.
11:20 – Getting out of the HR bubble and speaking directly with the business.
13:00 – Daniel’s marketing foundation at Lion and what employer brand can learn from consumer marketing.
15:40 – Why a strong brief is critical to crystallise thinking and guide decision-making.
17:40 – Managing expectations and avoiding unrealistic “unicorn candidate” promises.
19:20 – Case study: building a female talent attraction campaign for field sales at Lion.
22:10 – Challenging industry stereotypes and uncovering hidden perception barriers.
24:40 – Distilling myths through insight and documenting them in the brief.
26:30 – Validating the brief with the business and creating shared ownership.
28:20 – Using the brief as a credibility tool when asking for time, budget and support.
30:10 – Measuring success beyond applications: quality, retention and long-term ROI.
32:10 – Why employer brand teams need to think and act more commercially.
34:10 – Keeping stakeholders engaged throughout a campaign, not just at the end.
36:00 – Capacity planning with TA to protect candidate experience.
38:00 – Feeding campaign learnings into future hiring strategies.
40:10 – What every strong brief must include: audience clarity and actionable insight.
41:50 – Final reflections on credibility, commercial thinking and employer brand impact.

If you want to learn more about activating your employer brand strategy and EVP then you can check out podcast.videomyjob.com for a library of industry perspectives and how-tos.

Now, if you’re ready to level up your activation strategy then you need an employee story video platform and that’s what we do! Go to videomyjob.com/demo to book a walkthrough with one of our video specialists or click on the pricing page to learn about our new 60-day pilot program.

Lastly, we’d love for you to help us spread the word about the VMJPod to attract new experts and practitioners to share their activation strategies, so please take a screenshot and post it on LinkedIn, don’t forget to tag us at VideoMyJob, we are so grateful when you do that!

In this Sydney edition of the VMJPod’s Employer Brand Series, hosts David Macciocca and Brie Mason sit down with Alex McVeigh, a long-time employer brand leader and the founder of She Graduates, to unpack how organisations need to rethink attraction in a Gen Z–led world.

Drawing on more than 15 years in employer branding across Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Alinta Energy, Alex shares how talent behaviour is shifting, why trust has become the defining currency of employer brand, and what this means for content, channels and budget decisions.

The conversation explores the growing influence of social platforms, the rise of peer-to-peer credibility, and why advocacy and influencer-style thinking are no longer optional for employer brand teams.

This episode is essential listening for employer brand, early careers and talent teams navigating Gen Z expectations, shrinking budgets and a rapidly changing digital landscape.

Key topics
01:05 – Alex’s background: 15+ years in employer brand across Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Alinta Energy.
03:10 – Launching She Graduates and supporting female university students into the workforce.
04:35 – Why early careers has always been the most innovative space in employer brand.
06:05 – The forces reshaping attraction today: social media, AI and tightening budgets.
08:10 – Attention spans, expectations and what content needs to do to hold Gen Z’s interest.
09:35 – Trust as the new currency and why highly polished content is losing impact.
11:05 – The “no-click internet” and how AI tools are changing how candidates research employers.
12:55 – The kinds of questions Gen Z is asking before applying for roles.
14:10 – Why employee advocacy remains the most powerful employer brand lever.
15:20 – Where Gen Z trusts content most, including TikTok as a search platform.
16:55 – Social media shifting from a “nice to have” to absolute table stakes.
18:10 – Getting corporates comfortable with TikTok and using grads or third parties to trial new channels.
20:10 – Virality versus value and why niche audiences matter more than mass reach.
21:55 – What success looks like on social media at the top of the funnel.
23:10 – Managing risk, trolling and the “cringe factor” when employees show up online.
24:35 – VideoMy ad break: creating once and repurposing employee stories everywhere.
25:30 – Paid social on TikTok and why organic alone is no longer enough.
27:05 – Budget expectations and what a small paid spend can realistically achieve.
28:25 – Comparing careers fairs with paid social from a cost and reach perspective.
30:10 – Why organisations keep doing what they’ve always done in early careers hiring.
31:40 – Reneging, relationship-building and why applications alone aren’t the goal.
32:40 – Influencer marketing in employer brand and what “influence” really means.
34:10 – Brand safety, competitive advantage and where to connect with Alex.

If you want to learn more about activating your employer brand strategy and EVP then you can check out podcast.videomyjob.com for a library of industry perspectives and how-tos.

Now, if you’re ready to level up your activation strategy then you need an employee story video platform and that’s what we do! Go to videomyjob.com/demo to book a walkthrough with one of our video specialists or click on the pricing page to learn about our new 60-day pilot program.

Lastly, we’d love for you to help us spread the word about the VMJPod to attract new experts and practitioners to share their activation strategies, so please take a screenshot and post it on LinkedIn, don’t forget to tag us at VideoMyJob, we are so grateful when you do that!

In this episode of the VMJPod’s Employer Brand Series – Brisbane Edition, hosts David Macciocca and Will Innes sit down with Shannon Taylor, Talent Acquisition and University Relations Specialist at Bechtel Corporation, to explore how taking initiative can spark lasting impact in employer branding.

Shannon shares how she transformed small ideas into measurable results — launching her own content initiatives, tracking data to prove value, and turning creative experiments into business-backed programs. She explains how visibility and consistency helped build trust across the organisation, and how collaboration with leaders and graduates amplified Bechtel’s story from the inside out.

Whether you are building employer branding from scratch, looking to earn stakeholder buy-in, or trying to prove ROI on your ideas, this episode offers a practical look at how action builds credibility, and how measurable impact turns ideas into influence.

Key Topics:
01:00 – Meet Shannon Taylor and her role at Bechtel Corporation
03:00 – Finding opportunity in early talent and employer branding
05:40 – Building credibility through quick wins and visible outcomes
08:10 – Using creativity and persistence to drive progress
11:00 – Turning data into influence: linking ideas to business results
14:20 – Engaging leaders and graduates to share authentic stories
17:00 – Creating internal visibility and recognition for employer branding
20:40 – Balancing creativity with business priorities
24:10 – Bringing consistency to content and campaigns
28:30 – Strengthening advocacy across teams and functions
31:20 – Lessons on staying proactive and building influence through results

If you want to learn more about activating your employer brand strategy and EVP then you can check out podcast.videomyjob.com for a library of industry perspectives and how-tos.

Now, if you’re ready to level up your activation strategy then you need an employee story video platform and that’s what we do! Go to videomyjob.com/demo to book a walkthrough with one of our video specialists or click on the pricing page to learn about our new 60-day pilot program.

Lastly, we’d love for you to help us spread the word about the VMJPod to attract new experts and practitioners to share their activation strategies, so please take a screenshot and post it on LinkedIn, don’t forget to tag us at VideoMyJob, we are so grateful when you do that!