Correspondence: Mark D. Uncles, School of Marketing, Australian School of Business, University of New South Wales, Quadrangle Building, East Wing, Room 3011, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. E-mail: m.uncles@unsw.edu.au

¹is a brand and strategy researcher at the School of Marketing, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. She has held consulting positions in the fields of corporate and employer branding strategy.

²is a professor at the School of Marketing, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. His research interests include brand management, retail analysis and consumer behavior.

Received 19 May 2009; Revised 19 May 2009; Published online 25 September 2009.

Abstract

Over the last decade, firms large and small have begun overtly branding themselves as employers as well as purveyors of goods and services. Drawing on an investigation of employer brands in practice, we examine how market segmentation is being used implicitly by managers and how established techniques for market segmentation can be applied more extensively in the employer branding context. Further, we posit that using a range of segmentation approaches in concert can strengthen explicit links between employer branding and the broader strategic goals of an organization. In particular, the use of a combination of generic types of market segmentation should help the firm to be more efficient and effective in attracting, retaining and motivating both current and potential employees.