Brands have their ambassadors, and they are used for promoting brands is a well- known fact. Almost all companies dealing in the B2C environment (especially) today seek services of sportsmen, celebrities, achievers, writers, and other talented individuals to represent their brands. I have always believed that brands are like human beings and they have a persona too. The brand ambassadors bring in a match to that persona and create an image or association with the product or service in the consumers’ mind i.e. their audience. This association, relationship and connect through an aptly chosen brand ambassador helps in increasing the customer base, brand loyalty, and eventually sales for the company.
Media has gone through a complete change in the way it is being consumed over the last decade or two. Similarly, the very concept of having a brand ambassador has also metamorphosed into newer concepts and innovative mechanisms of delivering value to the brands. Beyond the traditionally used A-list Bollywood actors and sportspersons, the brand ambassador universe now includes a variety of new titles in its fold, such as TikTok Stars, YouTubers, and Instagram influencers. In the process of innovation, utilising the existence of a super-connected world, many companies have now started successfully using their employees as brand ambassadors. Interesting? Yes, it is.
Employees can probably be the best brand ambassadors. In this highly networked environment of social media, the current employees, ex-employees and even the potential ones could prove to be valuable assets for the company from this perspective. Let’s look at the existing employees, we can safely assume that they’d we among the most aware about the products and services offered by the company, and the features and image of the brands of the company. Most of them would also be direct consumers of these brands and able mouthpieces of the goodness offered by them. All of the people available on their network-of-networks can be well reached out by them for boosting brand awareness and disseminating its messages.
On a general level of trust, if the employees are coming from various fields within the organisation and not just marketing, when speaking about their brands the audience will tend to trust more and it will create a great word of mouth. A what’s app forward of factual information about their own brands, a Facebook post concerning their own brands and a Tweet, Retweet, or Like of their own brands’ messages, will always cascade into credibility enhancing message for a brand among the audience networks. All of this can be executed in a planned fashion by the brand communications team for greater benefits.
Let’s say, we have a proper training programme for all employees, who are trained and sensitised about the brand, brand values, brand statements, among others. Employees should be able to choose what content to share and what not, what to promote and whatnot, when to promote and share and which all social media platforms to use etc., after such a training programme. If undertaken on a long-term basis such programmes can contribute hugely to enhancing brand awareness, building brand loyalty, impacting sales positively, etc. and in a highly-cost effective manner too.
Imagine how many recruits (especially in the software industry) read the reviews about their prospective employers on sites like Glassdoor, even before deciding to apply for a job. Various studies have proven that people believe in the recommendations of colleagues, friends, and family members over other forms of marketing communications.
Employees become the voice of the company to the external audiences, they help in efforts of shaping public perceptions of a brand, they enhance the brand awareness and propagate the company’s working culture to the outside world in more than many ways.
In today’s network of the connected world, if the companies can tap the potential of their employees having a good social media presence, it could result in one of the most trustworthy, authentic, and credible campaign outreach for them!
The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.
Praveen has been closely associated with many national and international events related to cinema for children, art and culture. He has a well-rounded experience that cuts across all key sectors of PR & Corporate Communications.
He started his career with URJA Communications, an advertising agency specialising in technology brands, where he was instrumental in developing the PR division. Post this, he had a stint with Horizons Porter Novelli, a global public relations consultancy. Thereafter, he was heading the IT & Telecom division at Clea PR, a leading Indian public relations and communications company followed by a fairly long stint with Omnicom Group agencies viz. TBWA\India and Brodeur India.
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