Guest post from Alex Geertz, who attended the Fifth China Branding Roundtable in Beijing on September 18 and 19.

While many Olympic sponsors chose to invest in the high profile sporting event with the primary intention of driving sales, UPS had an additional motive. Joseph Guerrisi, VP of Marketing for UPS Asia-Pacific Region mentioned one of the main motives for sponsoring the Olympics and improving brand image and awareness in China was for recruitment. In 2005, UPS set out to grow from 200 to 2000 employees in just 9 months. With low brand awareness and with little understanding of what UPS service offering among Chinese consumers, UPS found it difficult to differentiate itself as a competitive employer in the market.
From our research, we find netizens in China’s “buyer’s market” for employment will go to BBS message boards when considering job prospects to discuss brand reputation, especially brands which are famous overseas, but unknown in China. Chinese netizens increasing “brand consciousness” extends to employers. With its Olympic sponsorship, UPS strengthened not only its overall branding, but also its “employer brand.”