E.ON: The ‘Brand Ambassador’ Programme

Brand Ambassador = Corporate Influencer?

Everyone knows about influencer marketing by now. People with high reach and credibility in their target group report on products and services, influence the positive perception of consumers and ultimately increase sales.

This form of marketing may still seem unconventional to some marketing veterans, but it is quite effective. In numerous client projects, we have analysed which factors influence purchasing decisions. Recommendations through social contacts is a major purchase driver in most cases – especially for high-priced products and services and for long-term contracts (mobile telephony, banks, etc.).

But influencers can also have a decisive impact on the brand image within a company. This is achieved through so-called internal brand ambassadors. Selected employees report about the company in internal channels, such as the intranet or in direct employee contact. This can be news from the cosmos of the company or also their own experiences and adventures in the company environment.

Depending on the corporate culture, these reports can also be disseminated via external channels, such as on LinkedIn or other social networks.

Contributions of this kind have a decisive advantage over conventional corporate communication; they generate authenticity with the audience. A credibility that also works better than any marketing or HR ad.

One size fits all?

But not every employee is suitable as a brand ambassador. An opinion leader must be selected well, because it is important to build up a large network and to regularly provide it with content. For example, someone who has no motivation to post or no connection to the company will rarely be able to deliver authentic content.

In qualitative in-depth interviews with a large number of employees from different national companies, we analysed their needs, fears and behaviours in relation to communication and synthesised them in the form of five Ambassador Personas.

Based on this, a brand ambassador programme was developed that provides customised tools and content for different types of ambassadors. This makes it much more effective than a “one-size-fits-all” Ambassador programme, which simply works on a scattergun approach.

For us as an energy supplier, the E.ON brand is one of our biggest and most important assets. That is why it is particularly important that it is experienced consistently in all markets and across all touchpoints.
Employees have a special role to play here – it is only through them that the brand comes to life. This applies not only to employees who have direct contact with customers, but also to those in the office who bring the defined values to life in the company. Our Brand Ambassador Programme helps us to orchestrate the process and make it effective.

 

Andrea Hillnhagen
Global Head of Brand Management
E.ON SE

Would you like to use the commitment of your employees to build and maintain a fascinating brand? Get in touch with us, to develop a programme individually tailored to your needs!