One of the concepts I teach in my books and at speaking engagements when I’m asked to talk about branding is the importance of creating internal brand advocates and giving them the freedom to talk about the brand they love and believe in.\u00a0 Your employees are your most powerful brand advocates.\u00a0 If they don’t believe in your brand promise, why should consumers?\u00a0 Companies need to make sure their employees are not only educated about the brand image, message and promise but also that those employees have a reason to believe in it and want to talk about it.<\/p>\n
I read an article from Ad Age today that talks about this very concept and it’s shocking to me that companies don’t understand that building internal brand advocates should be a strategic imperative, not just a social media marketing tactic that’s getting some buzz of late.\u00a0 This is something that should be ingrained in the company culture, not an afterthought.<\/p>\n
How many companies can you think of where the employees will not only talk about the company they work for but advocate it, defend it against negativity, and evangelize it?\u00a0 There may have been a time when companies like Google might have been able to make such a claim, but it would be challenging to name good examples of companies that cultivate a sense of internal brand advocacy in everything they do today. While companies like Pizza Hut, Overstock.com, and Kraft have been using employees in commercials and marketing initiatives lately, how many of those employees are truly brand advocates?\u00a0 That’s the real question.<\/p>\n
So think about your own company and how much more powerful it could be if your employees truly believed in the brand promise.\u00a0 The word-of-mouth marketing true internal brand advocates could generate is exponential.\u00a0 It’s amazing all companies aren’t on the internal brand advocate train.<\/p>\n
What do you think?\u00a0 Leave a comment and share your thoughts about developing internal brand advocates.<\/p>\n