We argue that a focus on customer-based outcomes, though undoubtedly important, may offer an incomplete account of brand value that understates brands’ true contributions to the firm. This is because firms compete not only for customers but also for employees. Our central thesis is that just as strong brands can help attract customers at higher prices, they should also help attract employees at lower levels of pay. This is a nontrivial matter, as pay represents the largest cost in many organizations (Gomez-Mejia 2001), with salaries alone accounting for between 20% and 50% of operating expenses (Society for Human Resource Management 2008) and 30% of U.S. firms’ revenues, on average (PwC Saratoga 2012). A significant (and increasingly controversial) aspect of this pay is devoted to top executives. With this research, we intend to motivate, explain, and demonstrate the effect of employee-based brand equity in the realm of executive pay.