Employer brand videos are one of the most persuasive ways to shape how top talent perceives your company. The most impactful videos reveal what it feels like to belong, inspire candidates to imagine themselves on your team, and elevate your reputation as an employer of choice.
This year’s Rally® Awards™ winners took the Best Employer Brand Video category to a new level, where every frame told a compelling story and served a clear strategic purpose. They blended creativity with measurable business outcomes, and raised the standard for what employer brand video can accomplish. This year, there were three winners:
- First Place: ATB Financial – for their authentic and heartfelt “More Than Work” video series
- Second Place: Westpac Group – for their creative, audience-driven “Uncommon Minds” grad campaign
- Third Place: CBRE – for their polished, globally inclusive “EVP Manifesto” launch video
Let’s explore what made these employer brand videos shine and the Recruitment Marketing strategies you can use to bring your employee value proposition (EVP) to life.
2025 Rally Award Winners for Best Employer Brand Video
ATB Financial: More Than Work (First Place)
ATB Financial transformed authentic employee stories into a powerful recruitment tool with their More Than Work video series. Known locally for a positive culture, ATB realized they needed a deliberate strategy to leverage that reputation. Building on their newly defined Team Member Value Proposition (TMVP), they developed a story matrix focusing on six strategic roles, diversity and inclusion priorities, and internal culture champions.
What stood out is how ATB mapped each story to specific talent personas and crafted distribution plans tailored to Meta, LinkedIn, and internal channels to ensure maximum relevance and reach. By aligning every creative decision with their employee value proposition (EVP) and broader culture goals, ATB positioned the series as both an external magnet for top talent and an internal rallying point that reinforced pride and advocacy among existing team members.
Key highlights:
- Six vignettes plus a 90-second compilation, filmed at employees’ workplaces and favorite pastimes
- No scripts—employees spoke candidly, showcasing genuine connection and purpose
- Paid campaign across Meta and LinkedIn (Aug 12–Sep 23) achieved $13.34 CPM
- ATB.com/careers visitors jumped 60% YoY and career page views nearly doubled
- Organic LinkedIn video achieved a 3.94% engagement rate
- Internally celebrated, aligning with mental health and Indigenous Peoples Day content; cultural health metrics and eNPS climbed
ATB Financial: Why They Won
Judges praised the thoughtful framework for choosing storytellers, authentic unscripted narratives, and strong results across channels. They called the series “a genuinely human employer brand effort” that balanced authenticity with strategic targeting.
- Strategy: Grounded in TMVP and persona research to align messaging with target roles
- Quality: Sensitive, high-touch production preserved employee voices
- Innovation: Matrix-based storyteller selection and alignment with culture initiatives
- Results: Significant traffic lift, social engagement, and rising internal culture scores
Judges Comments:
“I truly admire the focus on showcasing people beyond their professional roles. Exceptional job creating a best-in-class video series that highlights both their team and their organization.”
“Videos really capture authentic storytelling that brings their TMVP to life through strategic role-based personas and diverse employee voices. Results show strong campaign engagement across channels and showcase support of internal culture goals.”
Westpac Group: Uncommon Minds (Second Place)
Westpac reinvigorated their established grad brand by flipping the script in a way that felt fresh and unexpected. For Uncommon Minds, potential grads observed and reacted to current grads in hero videos filmed on Sydney campuses and bus stops, the very locations where prospects study and commute. This approach made the campaign feel personal and immediate, allowing students to imagine themselves stepping into those roles. By meeting candidates in familiar spaces and weaving authentic reactions into the creative, Westpac turned a long-running brand into an experience that felt alive and relevant.
Key highlights:
- Two hero videos and six support videos tied to outdoor placements at 40+ Sydney sites
- Campus-specific filming and bus-stop activations connected digital storytelling with the real world
- LinkedIn teaser videos built anticipation and closing videos drove urgency
- 64% increase in total applications and 30% boost in STEM hires
- Hires spanned 26+ universities
Westpac Group: Why They Won:
Judges applauded the ‘meta’ approach—engaging grads by putting them in the story and linking digital campaigns to physical environments. The campaign blended authentic hopes and dreams with timely urgency, smashing previous application records.
Winning Reasons:
- Strategy: Precise targeting of STEM candidates while staying inclusive of all disciplines
- Quality: Clever integration of outdoor, digital, and peer advocacy amplified reach
- Innovation: Meta concept and location-specific filming delivered unexpected relevance
- Results: Record applications and diversity of hires across universities
Judges Comments:
“I was impressed by the innovative use of a ‘meta’ approach in the videos, as well as the strong connection established with graduate students. The campaign successfully achieved its objective, delivering impressive results by driving a significant increase in applications.”
“Westpac’s campaign brought a bold, unexpected concept to life, merging digital storytelling with real world campus activations. While the production value wasn’t highly polished, the creative approach was fresh, and the strategy was sharp. Results were standout!”
CBRE: EVP Manifesto Video (Third Place)
CBRE launched its new employer brand with a Manifesto Video featuring real employees from Washington, DC, London, and Singapore. Each spoke a line from CBRE’s written manifesto, creating a cohesive global story that reflects the firm’s diversity and reach. Filming in three major hubs allowed the video to showcase authentic moments in real work environments rather than polished studio sets, reinforcing the company’s commitment to transparency and inclusivity.
By weaving together voices from different regions, roles, and backgrounds, CBRE demonstrated that its culture and values transcend borders. The video became the emotional centerpiece of their employer brand launch, sparking pride internally and signaling to candidates worldwide that CBRE is a place where diverse perspectives drive shared purpose.
Key highlights:
- Filmed in three global offices with regional representation
- Translated into 17 languages for country-specific career sites and social media
- Activated via careers site, organic and paid social, employee advocacy, and internal channels
- YouTube: 326K+ views; Organic: 203K+ impressions, 84K views, 4,500 engagements
- Employee advocacy: 850K reach, 3K engagements, $28K earned media value
CBRE: Why They Won
Judges highlighted the high production value and global inclusivity. They praised CBRE’s ability to create a polished, localized asset that authentically showcased its people and values, inspiring both employees and candidates.
Winning Reasons:
- Strategy: Positioned as the cornerstone of an EVP launch to spark global awareness
- Quality: Sleek production and careful localization for 17 markets
- Innovation: Seamless integration into multi-channel, multi-region activation
- Results: Outstanding views, engagement, and advocacy-driven reach
Judges Comments:
“I was truly impressed by the execution of this video. It beautifully highlights the various locations and diverse roles within your workforce while bringing the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to life through the authentic voices of your employees.”
“A polished, globally inclusive manifesto video that showcased its people and values with clarity and professionalism. The execution was sleek and well localized, with strong attention to detail across languages and markets.”
Lessons from This Year’s Best Employer Brand Videos
Across ATB Financial, Westpac Group, and CBRE, the standout practices were clear: they grounded their employer brand videos in authentic employee voices, aligned every storytelling choice with their employer value propositions, and delivered content through the channels where their target talent was most active. By combining thoughtful Recruitment Marketing strategy with measurable impact, these organizations turned video into a powerful driver of employer reputation, engagement, and recruitment marketing success.
Here are key lessons we can learn to create our own standout employer brand videos:
- Anchor storytelling in your EVP or TMVP – ATB and CBRE used their value propositions as the foundation, ensuring every frame reinforced their unique culture.
- Use authentic employee voices – Unscripted narratives and genuine reactions built credibility and emotional resonance.
- Think multi-channel and multi-touchpoint – Westpac’s physical-digital integration and CBRE’s localization strategy ensured maximum relevance and reach.
- Measure impact, not just views – All three winners tracked conversions, engagement, and downstream cultural health, proving video’s strategic value.
- Collaborate broadly – Each campaign required coordination across departments, leaders, and advocates to scale its impact.
💡 Pro Tip: Test your video concept with a small employee ambassador group before launch. Their feedback can reveal gaps, strengthen authenticity, and turn them into early advocates to amplify your reach.
Key Takeaways for Your Next Employer Brand Video
The 2025 Rally® Awards™ winners prove that employer brand videos are far more than glossy showreels. ATB Financial, Westpac Group, and CBRE demonstrated that authentic storytelling, strategic targeting, cross-channel execution, and clear KPIs turn video into a powerful lever for talent attraction and engagement.
As you plan your 2026 submissions, start capturing your best culture stories now. Pair them with data-driven insights, bold creative choices, and multi-channel strategies to show—not tell—why your organization is an incredible place to work. Nominations for the 2026 Rally® Awards™ open on November 1, so now is the perfect time to prepare. The next award-winning video could be yours!
