Company Fashion as an
internal and external HR-tool


AZ Groeninge is a large teaching hospital, affiliated with the Flemish KU Leuven Hospital network, in the Belgian city Kortrijk.
Industry: Healthcare
Company Size: 4k
Location: Kortrijk, Belgium
Extra: International research shows AZ Groeninge to be the best hospital in West Flanders.
Topic: Employer branding
Az groeninge is a dynamic hospital in Kortrijk with 1100 beds, more than 3500 employees, 250 doctors and 200 volunteers. High-quality patient care is central to their organization. Based on an interactive workshop with the employees, they further defined five Employer Value Propositions: versatile, together, resilient, fiery and forward. An important first step, yet Sunday added the fun factor to these values by designing wearables. Because branded wearables help people fit in immediately and help them rapidly adopt the company culture. But not only were the new hires ready to take the step, Az Groeninge’s current employees received the socks as well. Discover more on how to use company fashion as an internal and external HR-tool.
The covid-19 period hit like a bomb, and perhaps the worst of all in healthcare. AZ Groeninge, a Flemish hospital, experienced this first hand. Suddenly, there was a big need for additional staff to be able to provide the necessary Covid care.
Discover the campaign of AZ Groeninge that motivated no less than 51 people to apply.
Interactive workshop with employees
Everything starts with a well thought out employer branding strategy. This strategy ensures that you attract the right talent and keep them on board. To help shape this strategy, AZ Groeninge partnered up with communication agency Proud Mary and Sunday.
An important first step in this strategy is to communicate the internal values. These values were already worked out at AZ Groeninge in the past. Based on an interactive workshop with the employees, they were further defined. Five Employer Value Propositions were established: versatile, together, resilient, fiery and forward.

With these 5 EVPs, AZ Groeninge wants to clearly convey who they are and what they stand for. The terms "versatile, together, resilient, fiery and forward" form the basis for the elaborated creative concept with which they hopefully attract the right people. These values were then incorporated into the overarching campaign line: "Step Way" with AZ Groeninge.
Getting employees to ‘carry’ the concept
In order to make this campaign a success, the employees needed to be ready to step into the project. You can take this quite literally. The values were placed on socks and these were worn by the employees.

The choice of socks was a nod to the many steps that each employee takes every day, both literally and figuratively. In addition, they also have a fun factor so that conveying the values was not a formal, stiff affair but a pleasant moment.
The design is a perfect reflection of what AZ Groeninge stands for. Each value was given a matching icon. These icons, along with the recognizable AZ Groeninge colors, were incorporated into the socks. In addition, the socks came with a custom cardboard that was attached to the socks like an accordion. On this cardboard, each value was briefly explained separately.
Do you recognize yourself in these terms? Then a job at AZ Groeninge could definitely be something for you!

With only one product, they decided not only to make the values clear, but also to give a boost to all employees and thank them for all the hard work. The socks were therefore received and worn enthusiastically by the entire team!
A thoughtful campaign image
Now that the campaign was fully rolled out internally, the message also had to be communicated externally. This was done using job-specific videos on social media but there was also a big role for print.

The campaign image was chosen to show employees wearing the socks and literally taking a step. The optical illusion created by the image stimulates the viewer's interest.
We are happy to share some of the images with you!
Also looking for an offline tool to support your (internal or external) campaign? We would love to have a chat!