An employer brand refers to the image and reputation of an IP department of a company, a law firm, an IP boutique, or an individual IP expert as an employer, as perceived by current employees, potential candidates, and the broader public. It encompasses the IP expert’s values, culture, work environment, and the overall employment experience it offers. The concept of employer branding involves strategic efforts to create and maintain this image to attract, engage, and retain top talent.

Employer branding is the process of promoting a company as an attractive place to work to potential job candidates. It involves showcasing the company’s culture, values, and employee benefits to attract top talent and retain existing employees. In today’s digital age, online marketing has become a crucial tool for employer branding.

Employer branding is a marketing strategy used by HR departments of IP boutiques or IP experts to build and sustain an appealing employer brand. It aims to make the company attractive to potential candidates and retain existing employees by highlighting the company’s values, culture, and benefits. This strategy is crucial in today’s competitive job market, where companies vie for skilled IP professionals who have the luxury of choice.

Employer branding has significant impacts on law firms, influencing various aspects of their operations, from recruitment to employee retention and overall firm reputation. More information can be found in our Online marketing guide on employer branding.

Attracting Top Talent with a strong employer brand

A strong employer brand makes a law firm/IP boutique more attractive to potential candidates. It helps differentiate the firm in a competitive job market, making it easier to attract high-calibre legal professionals. Candidates are more likely to apply to firms that have a positive reputation as employers. How you can achieve this is exemplarily shown in the following two campaigns:

DuPont – Intellectual Property Manager

The starting point of an employer branding campaign can for example be a post about the achievements of the employer in the relevant field of the applicant. When searching for a job as an IP-manager, who would not want to join the inventor of modern IP management? This was the start of the marketing campaign for DuPont, who were looking for a new hire for their IP department. Please read here the post on LinkedIn, which received 27 comments and was shared 10 times in the relevant community:

From there more information on the company and their achievements were provided and also a link to the concrete job description and the application form in the job portal of DuPont. This sharing of information via multiple channels helps to remind potential targets on the job opening and also shapes the positive brand image in the heads of the community.

Feedback by Steve Brabbs, Intellectual Property Manager DuPont, after the campaign: “The access to the community of the IP business academy gives you the chance to directly address a talented group of IP professionals and present yourself as an employer for IP experts. The communication via its channels is quick, direct and reaches the relevant people.”

 

Bösherz Goebel – Patent engineer

For smaller companies or patent law firms the starting point of employer branding is often the personal branding and positioning of individual experts and law firm partners to show their expertise and to present themselves as attractive colleagues. In the campaign for a patent engineer position at Bösherz Goebel founding partner Sebastian Goebel personally authored an article on the IP business academy about the core topic, which the candidate would work on. It explained the main current trends in AI and patenting.

The blogpost and enclosed job offer was then shared through the various networks, such as in the newsletter by Prof. Wurzer and through the channels of the IP business academy.

Feedback by Sebastian Goebel, Founding Partner at Bösherz Goebel, after the campaign: “I could present my personal competencies as IP expert and the brand of the law firm via the channels of the IP business academy and reach quickly and easily a broad IP management community with my message. This helped to sharpen the profile of the law firm as an employer and get in contact with highly qualified IP experts.”

For more information on employer branding campaigns, please get in contact with the Editor in Chief of the IP Management Pulse Newsletter Tobias Denk.