FOCUS: BRAND STRATEGY MISFIRES | AUDIENCE: STEWARDS OF PLATEAUED BRANDS
BY: SHOBHA PONNAPPA | BRAND BREAKTHROUGH STRATEGIST | 45 YEARS | 125+ CLIENTS
I helped a textiles company discover that staffing is not about filling rosters, but about weaving unique culture.
This East European textiles factory was preparing to scale production with a new facility in a semi-urban town. The leadership team created detailed staffing spreadsheets, shift rosters, and headcount ratios. They were convinced that meticulous planning alone would guarantee success. Yet, despite the elaborate manpower numbers, the project hit a plateau almost as soon as it started.
Workers joined only to leave within months, citing low morale and little pride in their work. The community surrounding the factory saw the roles as transactional, not aspirational. Hiring became an endless cycle of replacements. The brand had mistaken planning for purpose, and the absence of culture left their new facility lifeless.
Through diagnostics, I uncovered that the problem wasn’t the planning itself but the hollowness behind the plans. Spreadsheets and rosters could dictate who worked when, but they did nothing to show why the work mattered. Employees saw themselves as numbers in a ledger, not as people creating something meaningful.
The insight was that culture in a factory setting isn’t a luxury, it’s a survival necessity. In industries like textiles where labour drives production, motivation comes from shared pride and purpose. Without that cultural weave, the factory was destined to unravel no matter how many shifts were charted on paper.
My breakthrough brand idea was to transform the staffing plan into an employer brand strategy. Instead of filling rosters, the company would weave a story of dignity, progress, and belonging around the textiles workforce. The positioning shifted from “jobs available” to “a community of craftspeople shaping fabrics of the future.”
This was not just messaging, but a powerful identity anchor. Every hire, every supervisor, and every shift had to be framed within this culture. The new purpose was clear: working in the factory was about more than wages, it was about being part of a fabric that mattered to the community and the market.
The company began to narrate its purpose across digital channels where potential employees and local communities were active. Social media content highlighted pride in craftsmanship, employee journeys, and the social value of stable factory jobs. Internal digital platforms were redesigned to celebrate employee stories instead of just pushing notices.
Recruitment no longer relied only on cold listings. It now focused on purposeful storytelling that attracted people aligned with dignity and progress. With every touchpoint, the brand stopped talking about rosters and started talking about culture. This online amplification made the employer brand tangible and desirable.
Here are 10 strategic ideas developed (and several executed) to support the new brand direction:
Factory Life Video Series: Professionally shot short films capturing worker pride, camaraderie, and the detail of textile craftsmanship, distributed across YouTube and LinkedIn for recruitment and retention impact.
Instagram ‘Day at the Loom’ Stories: Authentic employee-generated stories showing a behind-the-scenes view of life at the loom, emphasising dignity in work while resonating with younger audiences.
LinkedIn Career Journeys: Inspiring posts mapping employee progress from entry-level weavers to supervisory and managerial roles, reinforcing the idea of textiles as a long-term career path.
Community Uplift Blogs: Thoughtful articles on the corporate site highlighting how factory employment directly improved local households, schools, and healthcare access in the surrounding town.
YouTube Mini-Documentary: A 12-minute documentary-style video showcasing how textiles work has transformed into a modern, purpose-driven profession, gaining media pick-up and social shares.
WhatsApp Recruitment Circles: Branded recruitment circles in local community groups sharing culture-focused opportunities, ensuring job seekers understood the bigger purpose behind each role.
CSR-Linked Campaigns: Coordinated campaigns showing digital stories of the company’s investment in community uplift projects, such as vocational training for family members of employees.
Podcast Interviews: A monthly podcast series featuring factory managers, community leaders, and employees discussing how purpose-driven employment reshaped morale and productivity.
TikTok/Short Reels: Engaging micro-videos showcasing teamwork, fun, and pride on the factory floor, repositioning textile jobs as modern and aspirational to younger recruits.
Digital Wall of Fame: A recognition portal celebrating employee milestones such as five years of service or innovative contributions, promoted across internal and external channels to inspire pride.
Worker attrition dropped by 38%, reversing the previous trend of rapid turnover and stabilising the workforce.
The average time to fill vacancies fell from 6 weeks to just under 3 weeks, making the company more competitive in attracting skilled labour.
Employer brand content generated over 75,000 impressions across local social channels, with notable engagement from prospective hires.
Productivity per worker increased by 22%, with measurable gains in both output volume and quality consistency.
CONFIDENTIALITY CAVEAT: This case study represents a confidential engagement. For privacy, specific brand identifiers, campaign names, and project phases have been withheld. It has been shared with permission while preserving client discretion.
If you’re an investor seeking momentum for your portfolio brands, this Case Study Post I wrote could interest you: “When a Founder’s Loud Voice Drowned Out the Brand’s Sedateness.“
And if you’re a solo expert looking to sharpen traction, this Case Study Post I worked on may resonate: “When an Office Makeover Expert Worked Under a Shabby Facade.“
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