There’s nothing small about Tiny Disco’s Employer Brand
Employer Branding Interview with Tiny Disco’s Founder and Creative Director, Chelsea Morley.
In the ever-evolving landscape of talent acquisition and company culture, employer branding has been crowned as one of the most powerful tools an organisation can wield.
I recently had a 2023 style sit down (aka email exchange) with a Melbourne based creative content agency, Tiny Disco, that had caught my attention with their formidable employer brand strategy.
So, off I went (fired up the laptop), on a mission to find out if they had similarly grabbed the attention of top talent in their industry, and to learn how they make magic happen.
Q. What did you set out to achieve with your employer branding strategy?
Chelsea: When we launched Tiny Disco in 2017 it was just myself, my husband and a single video editor (who is still with us to this day). We didn’t really have any team content to showcase to potential employees (nor did I want to showcase it!) We worked out of a dark garage in St Kilda and so the focus was generally about the final work.
As we grew, I personally never wanted to showcase the team or behind the scenes - I had a deep fear that other companies might poach them or maybe the team didn’t want to be associated with us (self doubt!!). Around 8 months ago I made a clean shift in the opposite direction - it felt like it was the right time. I actively started to think about the branding / social strategy for Tiny Disco and hired people to execute it for me.
We have very clear internal pillars about the content we want to show from within the business. This is something that we reassess monthly and build on based on the way it lands out in the world across socials. Our business is now about so much more than the work we produce - it’s about our culture and the “moments in between” the day to day and bigger work that goes down.
Now my strategy is to show as much as possible - the good stuff, the funny stuff, the moments that don’t work out. So far the response has been incredible - both clients and potential candidates respond so well to seeing the inner workings of our brand. People are visibly excited to come in for interviews, they can feel the creativity in the air - none of what we put on socials is a show.
Q. What does success look like?
Chelsea: Success to me is engagement and interest. As a business it’s hard to gain followers let alone engaged followers. Success to me also looks like incredible candidates coming through the doors when we post a job advertisement on instagram or TikTok. The reach is real and tangible.
Q. What have you tried and tested in terms of social media platforms? What works best for your audience? Any flops?
Chelsea:
We started out on instagram only - it acted in equal parts as our portfolio, our website (we only just launched a website after 5 years in business at the end of last year and didn’t really feel it was a necessary thing) and a communication tool. Instagram is still a primary platform for us - it’s where we show work, behind the scenes and team profiles. We have LOTS of people sliding into our DMs every day asking for internships or how to get a job with us so it is a vital tool in recruitment too.
We use Vimeo to post our finished video work. It’s not a giving platform and generally just allows us to have a space for our finished work to be housed.
TikTok is like the wild west - anything goes. It’s safe to say we’re experimenting a lot with the platform and it’s working well. We post multiple times a day and are regularly tweaking what we post depending on how previous items have performed. It’s a bit more of a relaxed window into the soul of what we do. We do also advertise specific roles on this platform too (not all).
Twitter is dead to us all.
Facebook isn’t far behind.
Q. Who owns your employer branding?
Chelsea: Myself as founder and creative director. I’m heavily involved in the way we put ourselves out there, from our team profile videos to our weekly Friday wrap ups. It’s important to me that our tone of voice is consistent and on brand for us. I have a team of 2 x full time social content producers who manage the content itself (along with their other workload).
The rest of the team are excited by our branding and want to be involved - they know they can put ideas forward and make a mark. Our branding is also something that is constantly being evaluated and evolved. We’re in the midst of a bit of a shift at the moment and it’s thrilling to constantly question who we are and how we put ourselves out there and build on it. You can’t afford to sit still.
Q. Have you noticed any impact on your hiring?
Chelsea: 100% yes.
The calibre of talent coming through the doors is phenomenal - it feels like we have momentum and a place that people want to work. Social media and the way our brand presents online also allows us to facilitate employment conversations so much swifter - if I see someone follow us and I like their work, I’ll reach out. If people contact us and they seem aligned to what we do, we’ll get them in the doors for a meeting.
Our employee journey is all about connections and finding the right fit over and over again. We don’t muck around when we hire - generally I know who I’m giving a role to after the first 5 minutes of an interview, we try to get interviews happening pretty swiftly - we pride ourselves on nailing hires, fast.
Q. What's your one piece of advice for anyone hoping to nail employer brand specific content (& who maybe aren’t as creative as Tiny Disco)?
Chelsea: Honesty - be true to your brand. Don’t put a facade up or pretend. Employees and candidates alike value transparency. And creativity isn’t necessary - it’s about experimentation and playing with the landscape.
I would say that nailing your tone of voice is essential. People want to know what you stand for and who you are.
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From cultivating a truly dynamic workplace culture to crafting an authentic brand narrative, Tiny Disco has mastered the art of showcasing its unique identity. I highly recommend giving them a follow - if not for the employer branding fun, for the refreshingly contemporary creative work they do.
