In this article, you as a client can follow my 7 steps for successful productions in Employer Branding portraits.

Over the last ten years, I have made many personal portrait films of people in their workplaces, which in the industry are called employer branding portraits. These films show real people talking about their feelings and thoughts about their employers and workplaces. They are often displayed on a client's career page or used to drive traffic to that page.

Driving Traffic vs. Retaining Traffic.

Typically, there are two starting points when initiating the process: should the films drive traffic to a landing page or retain traffic that has already found its way there? Even if the film can do both, which is priority one?

Retaining Traffic:

For the Swedish Armed Forces, we created four personal portraits: four pieces, each two minutes long, in-depth films about four recruits' initial experiences within the military.

To make them more contemplative, they were filmed in slow motion, and we used a calm, floating camera which allowed their unique stories more space. These films were intended to retain people on the landing page for those who had already arrived there.

Check out all four films for the Swedish Armed Forces - Click

Driving Traffic:

Now compare this with a film for ManPower.
This film was designed to drive traffic. Since it needed to stand out in the feed, we featured Amelie, who is into bicycling, and chose a shorter format of 20 seconds. It was more dynamically filmed and edited in comparison to the Swedish Armed Forces.

The Secret Sauce: The Process

Below are seven steps for you as a client to follow and reflect upon. In all the employer branding portrait films I've been involved with, the conditions have varied. Regardless, I try to follow the same steps.

Who should we make a film about?
It's a balance between those who want to participate and those who have a story that is both interesting to listen to and visually appealing.
You want more people on board than the number of films you plan to make because you also aim to assemble a cohesive whole that allows the films to complement each other. You don't want two films looking too similar and talking about similar topics. So, make a project description, send it out inhouse, and start checking for interest among participants.
Once you've chosen which participants to proceed with,
Contact them again and conduct another round of interviews to assess if they are a good fit. If you haven't already, now is the time to involve the director/producer/filmmaker who will later film these individuals. Together, look at film references for inspiration on what you are aiming to achieve, as you now begin to search for visual elements in your participants' contexts. The challenge today is that individuals may be involved in exciting projects, but they are doing so in front of a computer screen, and filming a computer screen does not translate well visually. Can we find another way to show the story to make it more interesting to look at?
Do you need approval?
Compile a presentation with scenes you want to film and topics/questions you want the participants to discuss, and get approval from the in-house team or external XYZ.
Time for the real interviews.
So far, you might have only met online and gotten to know each other a little. Now, meet in person and record the audio that will be used as the final film's voice-over. It's helpful to do this before you start filming so you can adjust what you plan to film. See step 6.
Organic Spread
If the participants can tell their stories in their own words, they are more likely to share and support the film. This helps the film spread naturally. Edit the interviews from step 4 to include the best and most real responses.
Review all the planned scenes
Review all the planned scenes with the finished interview (voice-over). Check if the scenes you plan to film are still needed, or if some need to change?
Plan for filming!
Try to visit all the places you plan to film before the actual shoot. This helps you plan what works best on-site. Even with a great voice-over, a film needs good visuals because some people might watch without sound. The film team or producer knows how to create good visuals.

Three Quick Tips to Consider

SUMMER
Wait for the right season. In Sweden at least, we consider ourselves a summer country, so while a summery film can be shown year-round, a wintry film might be perceived as a temporary campaign. Unless your brand is associated with winter, I would generally recommend waiting for spring-summer-early-fall.
ORGANIC SPREAD
You increase the chances of organic distribution of the films, i.e., the employee wanting to share their own film, if you have followed the seven steps and allowed the person to express themselves in their own words.
This is also how you create a unique film.
AGREEMENT
What happens if a participant leaves their job after the film has been released? It would be wise to draft some form of agreement about what happens in such a scenario.

You want more?

Systra wanted to start their new career website by launching two personal films about employees. In this project, we set out to investigate what resemblances we could find between one's personal life and their work life, like Saga being a musician and an acoustician.

Full Read - Click

You can also check out my LinkedIn newsletter or watch my tutorials on YouTube.

My Seven-Step Process for Employer Branding Portrait Films

Driving Traffic vs. Retaining Traffic.

Typically, there are two starting points when initiating the process: should the films drive traffic to a landing page or retain traffic that has already found its way there? Even if the film can do both, which is priority one?

Retaining Traffic:

For the Swedish Armed Forces, we created four personal portraits: four pieces, each two minutes long, in-depth films about four recruits' initial experiences within the military.

To make them more contemplative, they were filmed in slow motion, and we used a calm, floating camera which allowed their unique stories more space. These films were intended to retain people on the landing page for those who had already arrived there.

Driving Traffic:

Now compare this with a film for ManPower.
This film was designed to drive traffic. Since it needed to stand out in the feed, we featured Amelie, who is into bicycling, and chose a shorter format of 20 seconds. It was more dynamically filmed and edited in comparison to the Swedish Armed Forces.

The Secret Sauce: The Process

Below are seven steps for you as a client to follow and reflect upon. In all the employer branding portrait films I've been involved with, the conditions have varied. Regardless, I try to follow the same steps.

Do you need approval?
Compile a presentation with scenes you want to film and topics/questions you want the participants to discuss, and get approval from the in-house team or external XYZ.

Organic Spread
If the participants can tell their stories in their own words, they are more likely to share and support the film. This helps the film spread naturally. Edit the interviews from step 4 to include the best and most real responses.

Review all the planned scenes
Review all the planned scenes with the finished interview (voice-over). Check if the scenes you plan to film are still needed, or if some need to change?

Plan for filming!
Try to visit all the places you plan to film before the actual shoot. This helps you plan what works best on-site. Even with a great voice-over, a film needs good visuals because some people might watch without sound. The film team or producer knows how to create good visuals.

Three Quick Tips to Consider

ORGANIC SPREAD
You increase the chances of organic distribution of the films, i.e., the employee wanting to share their own film, if you have followed the seven steps and allowed the person to express themselves in their own words.
This is also how you create a unique film.

AGREEMENT
What happens if a participant leaves their job after the film has been released? It would be wise to draft some form of agreement about what happens in such a scenario.

You want more?

Systra wanted to start their new career website by launching two personal films about employees. In this project, we set out to investigate what resemblances we could find between one's personal life and their work life, like Saga being a musician and an acoustician.

Full Read - Click

My Seven-Step Process for Employer Branding Portrait Films

Driving Traffic vs. Retaining Traffic.

Typically, there are two starting points when initiating the process: should the films drive traffic to a landing page or retain traffic that has already found its way there? Even if the film can do both, which is priority one?

Retaining Traffic:

For the Swedish Armed Forces, we created four personal portraits: four pieces, each two minutes long, in-depth films about four recruits' initial experiences within the military.

To make them more contemplative, they were filmed in slow motion, and we used a calm, floating camera which allowed their unique stories more space. These films were intended to retain people on the landing page for those who had already arrived there.

Driving Traffic:

Now compare this with a film for ManPower. This film was designed to drive traffic. Since it needed to stand out in the feed, we featured Amelie, who is into bicycling, and chose a shorter format of 20 seconds. It was more dynamically filmed and edited in comparison to the Swedish Armed Forces.

The Secret Sauce: The Process

Below are seven steps for you as a client to follow and reflect upon. In all the employer branding portrait films I've been involved with, the conditions have varied. Regardless, I try to follow the same steps.

Do you need approval? Compile a presentation with scenes you want to film and topics/questions you want the participants to discuss, and get approval from the in-house team or external XYZ.

Organic Spread If the participants can tell their stories in their own words, they are more likely to share and support the film. This helps the film spread naturally. Edit the interviews from step 4 to include the best and most real responses.

Review all the planned scenes Review all the planned scenes with the finished interview (voice-over). Check if the scenes you plan to film are still needed, or if some need to change?

Plan for filming! Try to visit all the places you plan to film before the actual shoot. This helps you plan what works best on-site. Even with a great voice-over, a film needs good visuals because some people might watch without sound. The film team or producer knows how to create good visuals.

Three Quick Tips to Consider

ORGANIC SPREAD You increase the chances of organic distribution of the films, i.e., the employee wanting to share their own film, if you have followed the seven steps and allowed the person to express themselves in their own words. This is also how you create a unique film.

AGREEMENT What happens if a participant leaves their job after the film has been released? It would be wise to draft some form of agreement about what happens in such a scenario.

You want more?

Systra wanted to start their new career website by launching two personal films about employees. In this project, we set out to investigate what resemblances we could find between one's personal life and their work life, like Saga being a musician and an acoustician.

Full Read - Click

What's Your Budget? – What I Did to Stop Losing Clients

3D Scanning in Pre-Production with Polycam App.

Now compare this with a film for ManPower.
This film was designed to drive traffic. Since it needed to stand out in the feed, we featured Amelie, who is into bicycling, and chose a shorter format of 20 seconds. It was more dynamically filmed and edited in comparison to the Swedish Armed Forces.

Do you need approval?
Compile a presentation with scenes you want to film and topics/questions you want the participants to discuss, and get approval from the in-house team or external XYZ.

Organic Spread
If the participants can tell their stories in their own words, they are more likely to share and support the film. This helps the film spread naturally. Edit the interviews from step 4 to include the best and most real responses.

Review all the planned scenes
Review all the planned scenes with the finished interview (voice-over). Check if the scenes you plan to film are still needed, or if some need to change?

Plan for filming!
Try to visit all the places you plan to film before the actual shoot. This helps you plan what works best on-site. Even with a great voice-over, a film needs good visuals because some people might watch without sound. The film team or producer knows how to create good visuals.

ORGANIC SPREAD
You increase the chances of organic distribution of the films, i.e., the employee wanting to share their own film, if you have followed the seven steps and allowed the person to express themselves in their own words.
This is also how you create a unique film.

AGREEMENT
What happens if a participant leaves their job after the film has been released? It would be wise to draft some form of agreement about what happens in such a scenario.