Building the Business Case for Employer Brand with Daniel Connolly from Nine

Employer brand is often talked about as storytelling, creativity or content. But inside organisations, its success is usually decided somewhere else entirely: in budgets, priorities and credibility.

In this Sydney edition of the VMJPod Employer Brand Series, David Macciocca and Brie Mason are joined by employer brand expert, Daniel Connolly, to unpack how employer brand teams can move from reactive support function to trusted business partner.

With a background spanning employer brand, employee experience, learning and organisational development, Daniel brings a practical, commercial lens to a question many teams wrestle with: how do you prove employer brand is solving a real business problem?

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Why employer brand work often starts reactively

In many organisations, employer brand activity begins with a request rather than a strategy.

“Employer brand can be reactive,” Daniel explains. “It’s easy to say no, but you really want to start with the business case if you’re being engaged.” Often, that first signal comes from Talent Acquisition, when something is not working as expected.

“It usually starts with a whisper,” he says. “The TA business partner comes to you and says, ‘We’ve got this problem. We don’t have a talent pool here. The business is crying out for help.’” That moment is where employer brand has the opportunity to step in, not with tactics, but with diagnosis.

Diagnosing the real problem before proposing solutions

Daniel is clear that employer brand should never jump straight to execution.

“What I’m doing is diagnosing the problem,” he says. “It’s the same as organisational development. You’re trying to understand what performance issue you’re actually solving for.”

Recruiter insight is important, but it is only one input. “You need to test and validate what you’re hearing,” Daniel notes. “The more conversations and sources of information you can have, the better.” That includes speaking directly with the business to hear the problem in their own words, not filtered through second-hand assumptions.

Getting out of the HR bubble

One of the most common pitfalls Daniel sees is employer brand teams staying too far removed from the business.

“We don’t want to hide away in our little corner in the ivory tower in HR or marketing,” he says. “We have to connect with the business and understand what’s going on in their world.”

Credibility comes from fluency. “You have to be able to talk the talk with the business,” Daniel adds. “Understand their problem and how you’re helping them solve it.” Without that connection, employer brand risks being seen as well-meaning, but disconnected.

What marketing taught Daniel about employer branding

Daniel traces much of his approach back to his time working closely with marketing teams at Lion.

“That taught me everything about marketing,” he says. “What a marketing insight is, how you build a brand strategy, how you understand the consumer journey.” Those principles carried directly into employer brand.

“It’s still marketing,” Daniel explains. “Candidates are constantly opting in or out. Do I want to work here or not?” While the context differs from consumer marketing, the fundamentals of audience understanding and clarity still apply.

Why a strong brief changes everything

For Daniel, the brief is not paperwork. It is the work.

“I love a good brief,” he says. “It helps guide your thinking and crystallise the problem.” A strong brief captures context, insights, risks and expectations before any money is spent.

“If you’re going to ask the business for money, you better have a good reason,” Daniel explains. “You need to have done your homework and really understood the problem.” The brief becomes the foundation for honest conversations about what success might realistically look like.

Setting expectations and avoiding unicorn promises

Employer brand campaigns are often oversold, sometimes unintentionally.

“You want to make all these promises,” Daniel says. “‘We’re going to deliver you a hundred amazing unicorn candidates.’ No. No, no.” Advertising is never guaranteed, and pretending otherwise damages trust.

“Setting expectations comes from the prep,” he explains. “The conversations, the research, understanding their business.” A well-built brief helps teams stay grounded and aligned on achievable outcomes.

Case study: attracting female talent into field sales

Daniel brings this to life with a campaign he led at Lion, focused on attracting more women into field sales roles.

“The business wanted more female talent,” he says. “They were very clear about that goal.” This clarity shaped the entire brief and allowed the team to anchor the campaign in real organisational change.

Lion had recently closed its gender pay gap in like-for-like roles. “We’d sorted our house inside the house,” Daniel explains. “Now we were ready to go after this kind of talent in the market.” That internal reality gave credibility to the external message.

Challenging perceptions and uncovering hidden barriers

The brief revealed more than just surface-level stereotypes.

“There was a perception that it was a blokey industry,” Daniel says. “Beer company, pubs, male-dominated environments.” But deeper conversations uncovered another concern.

“What we were hearing was fear about being a woman on the road, going into pubs alone,” he explains. “Is that going to be a safe or comfortable job?” Those insights shifted the focus of the campaign from industry branding to role reality.

Why distilling myths matters

One of the biggest values of the brief was separating perception from truth.

“We knew that wasn’t the reality,” Daniel says. “Our customers were far more diverse than people assumed.” Documenting these myths allowed the team to directly address them through storytelling and proof.

“That’s one of the benefits of a killer brief,” he adds. “Distilling myths.” Once they are named and understood, they can be challenged with confidence.

Validating the brief with the business

The work does not stop once the brief is written.

“You go back to the business and say, ‘Here’s what I’ve heard,’” Daniel explains. “‘Does this sound right?’” This step builds trust and shared ownership before any campaign begins.

“You’re probably asking for money,” he says. “But you’re also asking for time.” Validation ensures there are no surprises later and that stakeholders feel genuinely heard.

Measuring success beyond applications

For Daniel, ROI goes well beyond click-through rates.

“You map it all out,” he says. “Here’s what we proposed, what we spent, what we achieved.” But the most meaningful metrics often come later.

“How many of those people are still with the organisation twelve months on?” Daniel asks. “That’s a quality measure.” Retention becomes evidence that the right people were attracted in the first place.

Keeping the business engaged throughout the campaign

Campaigns are not set and forget.

“You want to keep the business engaged the whole way through,” Daniel explains. “Not just take the money and come back five months later.” Regular updates help stakeholders understand progress and course-correct when needed.

“If something’s not working, you need to tweak and pivot,” he says. “That’s part of running a campaign properly.”

Protecting the candidate experience

Daniel also highlights a risk that is often overlooked.

“If you’ve got eighty leads sitting there and no one’s contacted them, what a waste,” he says. Capacity planning with TA is critical.

“You’ve got one chance,” Daniel explains. “Especially with small talent pools.” Employer brand success means nothing if the downstream experience breaks trust.

Employer brand as a commercial function

Underlying everything is a shift in mindset.

“Employer brand exists to solve a business problem,” Daniel says. “It’s not just fluffy stuff for the sake of pretty pictures.” To earn investment, teams need to speak the language of value.

“You have to take a commercial angle to everything you’re doing,” he adds. “If you want to sit at the table, you need to understand the business.”

Building advocacy through conversation, not campaigns

Daniel closes by sharing a more organic approach to advocacy at Nine.

“We didn’t even call it employee advocacy,” he says. “It was just an open conversation.” Bringing people together to talk about why they joined and why they stayed unlocked genuine stories.

“Why did you join and why are you still here?” Daniel recalls asking. “That alone gets people reflecting.” Those moments created insight, engagement and future storytelling opportunities without forcing participation.

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