Damian Babis, Director & Founder, Achieve Asia
The word rebranding tends to wash over HR these days, in a ‘yes, we've heard it all before’ kind of way. But, despite the growing need for organisations to reconsider their brand, does the process simply involve looking at how the firm is perceived?
Why rebrand?
Entrepreneurs continue to be attracted to the Hong Kong region—due to low barriers to entry—and therefore competition across many sectors, including the recruitment industry, continues to intensify. Achieve Asia is a Hong Kong-based recruitment firm currently undergoing a fundamental rebranding project. Damian Babis, Director & Founder, Achieve Asia commented, “The recruitment market is changing, not only in terms of increasing competition but also regarding demand from business partners, clients and candidates. It is important for companies to look at how they are communicating their product and service range to external parties, as opposed to purely relying on their reputation to facilitate growth.” Building a strong, relevant brand is not only imperative for engaging with new customers, but it also helps maintain strong ties with current clients.
Babis illustrated that the aim of rebranding was not only to enhance the candidate and client experience of Achieve Asia, but also to help potential employees of the business understand more about the identity of the business and the experience of working there. Greater transparency regarding the benefits and features of working life at the company is now evident from the new website.
There is great importance placed on taking a step back and looking at the company’s brand and operations from an external perspective, as opposed to simply continuing with day-to-day operations. Babis believes that clients in every sector, small and large, should be looking at branding as a critically important concept, during both good and bad economic times.
Review the business
Babis reported that the rebranding exercise was not simply a case of changing the ‘look’ of the company from an outside perspective, it also involved a fundamental review of the services they offer to candidates and clients. As well as the traditional recruitment service of identifying exceptional, ‘hard to source’ talent for their clients and finding great opportunities for strong candidates, the company also offers a range of additional services including third-party employment services, outsourced payroll, in-house recruiting services and temporary & contract staffing. Babis commented, “We realised that we have to communicate to clients and candidates what services we can provide to them, but—equally important—what we can not offer too.”
The rebranding of Achieve Asia was not an overnight process; Babis disclosed it is an on-going process, even after the project’s initial implementation. He explained, “There was a strong emphasis on the importance of talking with various stakeholders of the business, be it employees, management, clients, candidates and other parties. Achieve Asia consulted with a business that specialises in branding and, working in partnership, transformed the company logo and the look and feel of the business. We also launched an entirely revamped website, which includes new features such as an interactive salary review function for jobseekers and companies. The end result was an inspection of the entire business and what needed to be enhanced.”
Involve all parties
Rebranding is not something that should be looked at by the marketing department alone. Whilst marketing teams are heavily involved in the operational implementation of various aspects of rebranding, it is vital that all employees are engaged in the rebranding concept including the sales, finance, HR, IT and operational support functions, as well as external parties such as suppliers, customers and various other stakeholders. When asked about the overall experience of the rebranding exercise at Achieve Asia, Babis concluded, “This has been a valuable opportunity to review the whole business and what we are all about. What began as a rebranding exercise has ended up as a top-down and bottom-up strategic reflection of the entire organisation.”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
