Challenge
Through its Future Work initiative, OTTO has been positioning its employer brand as a pioneer of a “sustainable form of modern knowledge work”. The company knows it needs to attract and retain the best talent to shape its future.
The challenge was to increase the perception of OTTO as an attractive employer and highlight the pioneering work, attract skilled professionals, and stay on top during the pandemic, when more companies had to adapt to new work models.
Approach
An evidence-based communications approach was proposed, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques to identify OTTO’s key characteristics as an employer and to understand how the company could differentiate itself from competitors.
The approach would identify the media channels and themes most relevant to OTTO’s employer profile and uncover areas of opportunity and risk. A targeted analysis of “Future Work” was included, to measure OTTO’s positioning as a pioneer in workplace innovation and to assess the impact of the pandemic on Future Work communications.
Insight
The analysis confirmed that the pandemic had accelerated media discussion of innovative work practices. Critically, the depth of the data available to OTTO delivered an evidence-based understanding of priority media channels and discussion topics, so time and resources could be utilised effectively.
Impact
Because the data structure supports very targeted ad hoc analysis, the research program has developed a very specific tactical value to OTTO. The communications team use data to plan media outreach and to identify new engagement opportunities. Subsequent media outputs feed back into the analysis for further iteration and learning.
Research by employer ratings website Kununo.com confirms that OTTO GmbH has built a lead in employer reputation within the German online retail sector. Direct competitors are rated lower and have much lower effective levels of recommendation.