We believe in taking a holistic view of talent – from acquisition to insight and everything in between. That’s why we’re proud to partner with What’s Next, a specialist agency offering strategic marketing support to HR and Talent Acquisition teams. While we focus on talent acquisition and intelligence, What’s Next complements our services by helping organisations build strong Employer Brands, craft compelling EVPs, and run effective Recruitment Marketing campaigns – all grounded in powerful candidate insights.
To shine a light on what makes What’s Next such a valuable partner, we sat down with Sam Collier, founder of What’s Next, to talk about trends in employer branding, how companies can better connect with talent, and the growing importance of authentic storytelling in recruitment.
Sam, thanks for joining us! For those who don’t know What’s Next, can you tell us a bit about the agency and what you do?
Absolutely – and thanks for having me! What’s Next is a consultancy focused on helping organisations attract, engage and retain talent through strategic marketing. We support HR and TA teams with Employer Branding, EVP Development, Recruitment Marketing, and Candidate Insights. In simple terms, we help employers understand what makes them unique, tell that story effectively, and connect it with the talent they want to hire and keep.
How does What’s Next fit alongside what we do at Talent Insight Group?
Really well, actually – there’s a natural synergy that was clear right from the start. Talent Insight Group provides deep talent intelligence to inform hiring strategies and then turns those research skills to uncover the best candidates. We combine that research-led approach with decades of marketing experience and a deep understanding of what HR and TA teams need to attract talent by using marketing techniques in an HR context, helping shape the employer brand, messaging, and creating campaigns that help companies appeal to their ideal candidates.
Employer Branding has been a hot topic in recent years – how has it evolved?
It’s changed a lot. It used to be more about slogans and building career sites that reposted standard job advertisements, but today it’s about authenticity and alignment. People want to know what it's really like to work somewhere, not just the perks, but the culture, leadership, career opportunities, and values. That’s why EVP Development is such a big part of our work. We help organisations uncover their true employee experience and shape a proposition that’s both honest and aspirational.
Can you give us an example of how EVP development has made a real difference for a client?
A great example is actually the work we did here at Talent Insight Group. Back when What’s Next was completely focused on traditional marketing, I had the opportunity to support the team here by conducting research into the latest thinking on the Employee Value Proposition and creating a guide which you can still read. When I first brought this research to the Senior Leadership Team, they were keen to implement the findings. So, after conducting further internal research to gather insights across the team, we helped clarify what makes this a special place to work – the flexibility, the trust, the autonomy, and the genuine support and collaboration. We then built out the messaging and internal comms strategy around that EVP. It was amazing to see the impact, not only in terms of recruitment and retention, but in how it strengthened the internal culture. That experience was a real lightbulb moment for me and was a big part of why I decided to turn this into a service for other organisations.
And how do candidate insights play into that?
Candidate expectations are changing fast. Whether it’s flexibility, purpose, or DEI, people are more selective than ever. Through surveys, interviews, and social listening, we dig into what matters most to the talent you’re trying to reach – and sometimes it challenges assumptions. That insight means we can shape messaging and creative that genuinely connect.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to TA or HR leaders starting to think about employer brand?
Don’t wait for it to be perfect. Start by listening to your people and your candidates. Then take small steps to bring your culture to life externally. And crucially, make sure your messaging is aligned across the whole candidate journey – from job ads to onboarding. That’s where working with partners like Talent Insight Group and What’s Next can really help – we bring the insight and clarity needed to make it consistent and effective.
Finally, what’s next for What’s Next?
Great question! We’re continuing to grow our partnerships with organisations that want to take a more strategic, insight-led approach to recruitment marketing. And of course, we’re loving working closely with the team here on joint projects – it’s a great combination of skills that’s delivering real results.