Viva’s Blog: Are you using your most valuable assets?

As Peter Lewis, the late Chairman of Progressive Insurance used to say, “our most important assets walk up and down the stairs everyday.”

Savvy business leaders understand that strong brands aren’t built by the marketing department alone; every employee in an organization contributes to the health of the brand. That’s why it’s key to leverage employees as “brand ambassadors”.

For many organizations, the strength of the brand rests on the values and behaviors of its leaders and staff. Given ever-shrinking media budgets and hard to engage consumers, employee brand ambassadors have become an increasingly valuable marketing tool.

Consider Southwest Airlines
Voted the Travelers’ Choice best airline in 2014, Southwest continued its investment in employee training even during the recession. The airline’s spokesperson, Ed Stewart, explained the importance of instilling their culture into every newly hired employee: “Any airline can fly 737s to different cities, our secret weapon is people. We still had to invest in them.”

Why Amazon copied Zappos

Earlier this year, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos announced their Pay-to-Quit program, in which the company offers fulfillment center employees one-time payments to quit. Amazon borrowed the idea from Zappos, one of its subsidiaries, where “newbies”, employees who start a four-week training program, can receive a $2,000 bonus to leave the company. (Roughly 10% of employees take the offer.) So, why are companies offering new employees an incentive to quit?

The answer is simple. Unhappy people make for unsuccessful companies. Employees who are passionate about delivering something different, relevant and special help make companies great. By definition, no company is for everyone. It takes a certain personality to thrive at Southwest, Amazon, Zappos and likely at your company.

The concept’s not new

Many companies have understood the value of having cadres of well-trained brand loyalists serve customers. What’s new is the realization that every employee regardless of title or tenure needs to deeply understand and embrace the brand’s strategy.

How do you create employee brand ambassadors?

Step #1:  Hire fans.

It’s important to very carefully choose the people who represent your brand. While interviewing, does the candidate indicate a passion for your business, industry or customers? When you ask them why they love the company, is the response taken directly from your website? Sound generic? Brand evangelism has to be authentic. Ask candidates for an example of something your company did in the past few years that got them excited. You’ll quickly weed out candidates who don’t belong.

Is the tone and style of the candidate’s posts on their social media pages consistent with your brand? Would you feel great about the candidate representing your brand at an industry conference, your company party and even at the gym? Skills can be taught, passion can’t.

Step #2:  Make brand awareness a priority.

Gallup asked more than 3,000 randomly selected workers to assess their agreement with the statement “I know what my company stands for and what makes our brand different from competitors.” Only 41% of employees strongly agreed with this statement. Over half of those surveyed weren’t fully aware of their company’s brand positioning and differentiation. How can your team deliver on your business’ brand promise if they aren’t clear on what it is? It takes training and seeing leadership live the brand to effectively communicate what it’s about.

Step #3:  Involve employees in training new hires.

Instead of having a human resources representative go over the brand strategy with new hires, why not lean on your employee brand ambassadors? Pair up an employee with a new hire and suggest they chat about the brand. Encourage employees to schedule these talks at a nearby coffee shop or better yet, on a walk in a park.

Step #4:  Celebrate your employee brand ambassadors.

Don’t forget praise and prizes. It’s important to acknowledge passionate employees who enthusiastically promote your brand. A gift card, tickets to a concert or a day off for volunteering are just a few ways to make your fans feel special.

Transform brand ambassadors into superstars and provide them with an outlet to share their passion for the brand. Creating a “how to” video for customers? Include employees in a meaningful way. Discussing corporate culture on your blog? Feature how a new employee is discovering ways to improve your service. Then share the content with employees so they can post them on their social media pages.

Use your most valuable assets: your employees and their passion for your brand. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Author:
Laura Sheridan
About:
Laura Sheridan, Founder & President of Viva La Brand has a proven track record of effective branding and advertising, spanning over twenty five years with some of the best in the business: Foote, Cone & Belding in Chicago; Hill, Holliday and Polaroid in Boston; and, Progressive Insurance and Viva La Brand in Cleveland. Laura founded Viva La Brand to offer large and small organizations alike strategic marketing expertise to catapult their visibility, growth and profitability. Viva La Brand develops effective brand strategies and conducts ad agency searches that successfully match clients with the optimal ad agency partners. Laura is proud to work with smart, innovative leader Brands in a wide range of industries from health care to manufacturing to technology and financial services. In addition to her work with clients, Laura is an author and speaker on all topics related to Brand.
More articles by: Laura Sheridan

179 Comments

  1. Pingback: Derwick
  2. Pingback: ray ban australia
  3. Pingback: Brian McClure
  4. Pingback: air max pas cher
  5. Pingback: oakley pas cher
  6. Pingback: timberland outlet
  7. Pingback: moncler femme
  8. Pingback: jordans for sale
  9. Pingback: ray ban femme
  10. Pingback: moncler outlet
  11. Pingback: soldes louboutin
  12. Pingback: moncler france
  13. Pingback: moncler slovenija
  14. Pingback: nike pas cher
  15. Pingback: Home delivery
  16. Pingback: air max 2014
  17. Pingback: types aircraft
  18. Pingback: jordans for sale
  19. Pingback: nike tn pas cher
  20. Pingback: casino-bled.si
  21. Pingback: nike pas cher
  22. Pingback: parka canada goose
  23. Pingback: moncler paris
  24. Pingback: abercrombie femme
  25. Pingback: montblanc-pens.us
  26. Pingback: canada goose femme
  27. Pingback: baseball caps
  28. Pingback: nike outlet online
  29. Pingback: louboutin uk
  30. Pingback: air max pas cher
  31. Pingback: nike air max 95 em
  32. Pingback: nike tn pas cher
  33. Pingback: taxi 12
  34. Pingback: chaussures air max
  35. Pingback: view website
  36. Pingback: wildstar videos
  37. Pingback: Sac Longchamp
  38. Pingback: air max españa
  39. Pingback: fifa 15 coins
  40. Pingback: Full Statement
  41. Pingback: parajumpers soldes
  42. Pingback: jordan retro
  43. Pingback: hack a twitter
  44. Pingback: draw cycle
  45. Pingback: canada goose sale
  46. Pingback: parajumpers Outlet
  47. Pingback: world cup jerseys
  48. Pingback: nike free pas cher
  49. Pingback: woolrich nederland
  50. Pingback: longchamp pas cher
  51. Pingback: ugg pas cher
  52. Pingback: polo ralph lauren
  53. Pingback: canada goose
  54. Pingback: superhero costumes
  55. Pingback: www.garnerot.fr
  56. Pingback: louboutin soldes
  57. Pingback: longchamp pas cher
  58. Pingback: cheap ghds
  59. Pingback: Check This Out
  60. Pingback: Nike Air Max One
  61. Pingback: air max pas cher
  62. Pingback: pjs prix
  63. Pingback: louboutin store
  64. Pingback: hollister pas cher
  65. Pingback: air max pas cher
  66. Pingback: timberland outlet
  67. Pingback: vuelos china
  68. Pingback: diablo 3 gold
  69. Pingback: Www.Agora-asso.com
  70. Pingback: ray ban outlet
  71. Pingback: manti teo jersey
  72. Pingback: diablo 3 news
  73. Pingback: Roger Vivier shoes
  74. Pingback: tongs fitflop
  75. Pingback: fitflop Chaussures

Comments are closed.

Sign-up to receive Viva’s Blog Click Here