Employer Branding Is Not a Trend – It’s a Business Strategy

🎤 Let’s start from the top – what exactly is the Employer Branding Summit?

The Employer Branding Summit (or EB Summit) is a one-day international conference that will take place on November 26, 2025, in Sofia, focused entirely on how companies build workplaces that attract, engage, and retain talent. It’s not a traditional HR conference, it’s a strategy and culture forum, where we talk about people, leadership, tech, and communication.

We bring together leaders from companies like HubSpot, Deel, Bolt, NielsenIQ, TalentLyft, Humand, and many others to explore how employer branding can be used as a real growth lever, not just a recruitment campaign.

🎤 What inspired you to create this event?

I’ve worked in HR, leadership, and culture for over a decade — including at one of the largest logistics companies in the region — and I kept seeing the same disconnect: businesses wanted results, but ignored the employee experience behind those results.

There was also a clear lack of depth and international perspective in the events happening locally. In Amsterdam or London, conferences about company culture are packed. In Romania and Serbia, they’re building entire ecosystems around employer branding. I wanted to bring that energy to Bulgaria  and raise the bar.

🎤 Who should attend – only HR professionals?

Not at all. The event is for HR, marketing leaders, founders, and C-level executives, basically anyone who touches people, brand, or strategy.

In fast-scaling digital and e-commerce companies especially, employer branding is becoming critical. Why? Because your growth depends on your ability to hire, retain, and inspire people. And if you’re not doing that intentionally, it will happen by accident and probably not in your favor.

🎤 Many still confuse employer branding with recruitment marketing. Can you explain the difference?

Great question and one we’ll cover at the event.

Here’s the short version:

• Recruitment marketing is how you promote open roles and attract candidates.
• Employer branding is how people experience your company as a place to work — from first impression to exit interview.

Employer branding is not just content; it’s how your culture shows up in your processes, leadership style, values, and decisions. If your internal reality doesn’t match your external message, candidates will know. And they’ll walk.

What are the top mistakes companies make when trying to build an employer brand?

1. They focus only on visuals and forget the experience. A great careers site means nothing if your onboarding sucks.
2. They copy trends without context. What works for Netflix won’t work for your 20-person startup.
3. They build it as a campaign, not a system. Real employer branding is cross-functional — HR, leadership, marketing, and ops should all be involved.

And probably the biggest one: they leave it to HR alone. Employer branding is everyone’s job.

Source: ebsummit.bg

🎤 Could we discuss the event once more? What makes EB Summit 2025 stand out?

Three things:

1. Global perspective. We’re bringing in speakers from top companies who’ve built employer brands that work across markets, cultures, and challenges.
2. Real conversations. No buzzwords. We focus on real case studies, honest insights, and frameworks people can apply immediately.
3. Ongoing value. Even before the summit, we’re running EX Talks — a webinar series focused on employee experience, with sessions on digitalization, recruitment, culture, and engagement. This isn’t just an event. It’s a movement.

🎤 What trends should we watch in 2025 when it comes to employer branding?

・The fusion of HR and Marketing. The lines are blurring. We see more “Employer Brand Managers” sitting inside Comms or Brand teams, working side-by-side with People leads.

・Internal storytelling becomes a business tool. Companies that invest in employee advocacy, internal comms, and purpose-led narratives will win the talent war.

・EX as a product. Just like customer experience, employee experience is now measurable, designable, and improvable and that mindset shift is huge.

🎤 How can people attend or get involved?

Tickets are available at www.ebsummit.bg.

We also welcome sponsors and ecosystem partners who want to position themselves in front of decision-makers in HR, marketing, and leadership. We’re already partnering with platforms like Humand, TalentLyft, Veda Accounting, eHR and Pluxee, and we’re looking for more great matches.

🎤 Final question. What do you hope people will walk away with?

I hope they walk away with clarity and confidence.

Clarity that culture and branding are not side projects — they are the backbone of sustainable growth. And confidence that they don’t have to copy big brands to build a strong employer identity. They just need to start with intention, honesty, and curiosity.

Because culture doesn’t exist on paper. It exists in how we show up every day.