I came across an interesting article on Rohit Bhargava’s ‘Influential Marketing’ blog this week. It explores the way in which more and more organisations are using their employees as company ‘spokespeople’ in their external advertising.
http://www.rohitbhargava.com/2010/05/sbf-5-ways-to-find-and-use-employee...
Rohit quotes a number of companies in the US that are using employees in this way. And we have a number of companies in the UK doing the same: think Homebase or the currently ubiquitous NatWest adverts (designed to put a human face to “helpful banking”). In each case, the strategy is to turn brand positioning into more of a brand experience: the expectation being that if we feel more familiar and comfortable with the company’s people, we're more likely to give our custom to them.
This is not a new tactic: many organisations have used their people in adverts before. Remember Howard from the Halifax? But Rohit is right to observe that the technique is becoming more commonplace. And I think this has been due to the increasing demand for more corporate transparency in the post-recession world. Distrust of financial institutions, in particular, remains high and using employees to build ‘personal’ connections with consumers is a way of demonstrating that the company is more than a faceless corporate entity. ‘Employee advertising’ is being seen as a way of rebuilding confidence and trust.
However, adverts can only feature a handful of employees who have been handpicked to represent the company’s brand promise. Crucially, it’s the way in which their colleagues across the organisation interact with consumers on a day-to-day basis that will shape the credibility of that promise in practice. And interaction is becoming ever more complex; not only do employees communicate with customers during the course of the working day, through traditional channels and mechanisms, the advent of social media means they are connecting with others outside ‘formal’ work time. Such conversations will often touch upon work-related topics (just as they do in the offline world), even if the employee is not actively participating. The way in which employees behave in such situations will shape perceptions of the company – for better or for worse.
As a result, every company has an ever-growing army of brand ambassadors: whether or not they realise it. This means that now – more than ever - employers should be making a proactive and concerted effort to engage those people in the brand promise, and what constitutes ‘on-brand’ behaviour. They have to inspire employees to understand what the brand is all about, and their role in bringing it to life. It’s about engaging employees so they want to represent the company and its brand in the best possible way, as well as showing them the procedures they have to follow as part of their contract (in ‘formal’ work time and beyond).
Increasing use of employees in advertising can spearhead an organisation’s efforts to re-connect with its people. But it can’t do this alone: indeed, it could undermine company confidence if the ‘chosen few’ are perceived to set up expectations that day-to-day customer experience undermines. Every company has to recognise the risks here and ensure that an employee engagement programme is high on their agenda, else their efforts to re-connect with consumers will be like a house built on sand.
