How does an employee become a brand ambassador? www.socialseeder.com  Brand Ambassadorship? The brand advocacy that employees display to how far they act like people who know, love and spontaneously ‘sell’ the brand  Never underestimate the power of a strong brand  It is relatively easy to launch countless innovations in terms of product development, pricing, promotion or distribution sites.  Provided that a company takes the time it needs and has sufficient funds, it is relatively easy to launch countless innovations in terms of product development, pricing, promotion or distribution sites.  It is much easier and cost effective to build a strong brand if a company has an entire army of employees flying their organization’s flag, defending it with heart and soul – those are true brand ambassadors.  Who is a brand ambassador?  The 3 Ambassador Dimensions: - INTELLECTUAL DIMENSION - EMOTIONAL DIMENSION - BEHAVIORAL DIMENSION What affects the decision to become an ambassador? - Length Matters! - The problem is the mid-range group - What’s your favorite position? - Beauty gets attention Personality gets the heart Stimulating & boosting brand ambassadorship - Internal advertising - Research Who leads the brand ambassadorship program? - HR - Communication - Marketing Four things to remember - Good brand ambassadors need to know what the brand’s values are and what they entail. - There are three dimensions in ambassadorship: the intellectual dimension, the emotional dimension and the behavioral dimension. - Employees who have only just been hired and senior team members rank the highest as brand ambassadors. - If a company wants to turn its employees into real brand ambassadors, it needs to invest in internal ‘advertising’ & communication campaigns, just like the ones aimed at customers.

1. How does an employee
become a brand ambassador?
www.socialseeder.com

2. Brand Ambassadorship?
The brand advocacy that employees display to how far they act
like people who know, love and spontaneously ‘sell’ the
brand

3. Never
underestimate
the power of a
strong brand

4. A STRONG
BRAND
Increases the chances of customers
choosing your product or company
Boosts
customer
loyalty
Offers protection
against
competition
Results in
higher
margins
Ensures easier access to
distribution channels
Offers a platform
for brand
extensions
A Strong
Brand

5. P
PRODUCT
P
PRICE
P
PLACE
P
PROMOTION
It is relatively easy to launch countless innovations in terms of
product development, pricing, promotion or distribution sites.
A Strong
Brand

6. PPRODUCT
PPRODUCT
PPRODUCT
PPRODUCT
PPRODUCT
PPRODUCT
PPRODUCT
PPRODUCT
Provided that a company takes the time it
needs and has sufficient funds, it is relatively
easy to launch countless innovations in terms
of product development, pricing,
promotion or distribution sites.
Funds ($)
Brand Strength

7. P
PRODUCT
P
PRICE
P
PLACE
P
PROMOTION
Funds ($)
Brand
Strength
It is much easier and cost effective to build a strong brand if a company has
an entire army of employees flying their organization’s flag, defending it
with heart and soul – those are true brand ambassadors.

8. Who is a brand
ambassador?

9. The 3 Ambassador Dimensions

10. INTELLECTUAL
DIMENSION
The 3
Ambassador
Dimensions

11. EMOTIONAL
DIMENSION
The 3
Ambassador
Dimensions
INTELLECTUAL
DIMENSION

12. BEHAVIORAL
DIMENSION
The 3
Ambassador
Dimensions
EMOTIONAL
DIMENSION
INTELLECTUAL
DIMENSION

13. The 3
Ambassador
Dimensions
Brand ambassadors need to know what the brand’s
values are and what they entail.
It is crucial for them to understand how these brand
values are converted into tangible assets within the
organization in general, and particularly in the context
of their own position.
INTELLECTUAL
DIMENSION

14. EMOTIONAL
DIMENSION
The 3
Ambassador
Dimensions
First of all, there’s the sense of responsibility. The brand
ambassadors are aware of the brand’s value and relevance, and realize
they play an important role in building the brand’s success.
Secondly, there’s the element of commitment, passion and
enthusiasm. A strong emotional bond with the company’s products
and services and a deep affinity for the brand are also key
characteristics of brand ambassadors.
Thirdly, these employees truly believe in the brand, and they are
proud to work for their company.

15. BEHAVIORAL
DIMENSION
The 3
Ambassador
Dimensions
True brand ambassadors act like evangelists, enthusiastically spreading
the brand’s message, recommending it to others and trying to
convince their colleagues to follow their example.
The behavioral dimension also includes non-verbal brand-inspired
behavior or behavior in line with the brand’s vision and mission.
Brand ambassadors literally bring the brand experience to life by projecting
the brand image through their behavior and attitudes, or through
everything they say, do and offer in every interaction with customers.

16. BEHAVIORAL
DIMENSION
The 3
Ambassador
Dimensions
Employees may also adopt a neutral attitude towards the brand they represent
or, in the worst-case scenario, oppose it.
‘Brand neutral’ employees are simply not interested in their company’s brand
– they do not commit to promoting it and therefore do not create added value.
Brand saboteurs go considerably further by actively opposing the brand
culture. This means much more than simply ‘grumbling’ to the customers - they
even come out with spontaneous criticism of the company.

17. What affects
the decision to
become an
ambassador?

18. Length Matters!

19. Research conducted at Vlerick Business
School analyzed the potential link
between employee brand
ambassadorship and certain social
and demographic variables at a
number of companies.
Significant differences emerged with
regard to length of service.
Paradoxically, both employees who had
only just been hired and senior team
members scored far more highly as
brand ambassadors than the mid-range
group.
Length
Matters!
Length
Matters!

20. A possible explanation could be that staff
members who have just opted for a new
challenge are more inclined to display brand
ambassador behavior as a strategy to reduce
‘cognitive dissonance’.
Cognitive dissonance occurs when someone
makes a decision and then begins to wonder
whether it really was the right choice. To
minimise these doubts, the person tries to
convince him or herself that the decision
was the right one by behaving in all kinds
of ways that highlight the positive aspects
of the choice.
In other words, in the early stages, new
recruits tend to focus on the positive aspects
of their job to justify their decision to work
for this particular employer.
Length
Matters!
Length
Matters!

21. Employees who have been with the
company for years boast a wealth of
in-house experience and are likely to
have built up a strong bond with their
employer over the years.
They have probably reached a stage in
their career where they have chosen to
remain with their employer for good,
which logically translates into them
scoring higher as brand ambassadors.
Length
Matters!
Length
Matters!

22. The problem is
the mid-range group
This could be due to their
‘stuck-in-the-middle’ situation.
On the one hand, they have somewhat
lost the enthusiasm they had when
they first joined the company and they
are confronted more with the
negative aspects of their job (or
they can no longer ignore them).
On the other hand, they may be
unsure whether or not they intend
to remain at the company and they
may not yet have the position in the
company where they really feel they
are getting ‘value for money’”.
Length
Matters!

23. What’s your
favorite position?

24. What’s your
favorite position?
The higher a person’s position within
an organization, the greater the chance
that they will behave like
true brand ambassadors.
The reasoning behind this ties in with
the arguments mentioned earlier: as
people climb the company ladder, they
become more and more attached to
their organization.
In this case, there is also a link with the
employees’ length of service, which
further strengthens the effect.
What’s
Your
Favorite
Position?

25. People who work in sales and
marketing are most compelled to
become brand ambassadors, possibly
because people in this kind of job are
well aware of the personal influence
they have on customers, which
encourages them to act accordingly.
The greatest opportunities in terms of
brand ambassadorship probably lie with
front office staff (reception and
service staff). Needless to say, they
come into contact with all kinds of
people from outside the company
and, relatively speaking, they still
appear to have a considerable
margin for growth in terms of
assuming the role of brand
ambassadors.
What’s your
favorite position?
What’s
Your
Favorite
Position?

26. Beauty gets attention
Personality gets the heart

27. Personality
Staff members with a
proactive
personality clearly
have a greater chance
of becoming good
brand ambassadors.
Personality
gets the
Heart

28. Stimulating &
boosting brand
ambassadorship

29. If a company wants to turn its employees
into real brand ambassadors, it needs to
invest in the development of a ‘love brand’
within its walls, just as it does externally.
In other words, it should not stick to internal
communication via e-mail, corporate
speeches etc., but come up with
convincing internal ‘advertising’/
communication campaigns, just like the
ones aimed at customers.
Naturally, the approach needs to be slightly
different, because by definition, employees
are very involved with the company, which
is certainly not always the case for
customers and prospects.
Stimulating
Brand
Ambassadorship

30. When developing such campaigns, the focus should be identified
on the basis of the three Ambassador Dimensions.
The focus may need to be more on:
- The cognitive aspect: showing people what the brand’s values
are and teaching them how to identify with them in a way that
makes sense to them.
- The emotional aspect: making people proud to represent the
brand and encouraging them to associate it with positive
feelings.
- The motivational aspect: making people aware of the
possibility & responsibility to help promote the brand through
their behavior (e.g. word-of-mouth marketing).
Consequently, it is important to carry out research or conduct a
survey among the company’s employees first so as to identify
their needs.
Facts mean knowledge! Stimulating
Brand
AmbassadorshipINTELLECTUAL EMOTIONAL BEHAVIORAL

31. Who leads the
brand
ambassadorship
program?

32. Internal branding
should be a
responsibility shared by
HR, the marketing
and the
communication
department.
For practical reasons,
HR could take the lead,
as long as it gets
support with content
from the departments
that work on the
brand’s reputation
externally and is
aligned with their
activities.
Aligning internal
and external
activities is the key!
Leading
Brand
Ambassadorship
HUMAN RESOURCES
MARKETING
COMMUNICATION
AMBASSADORSHIP
PROGRAM

33. 4 things to
remember

34. Leading
Brand
Ambassadorship
1. Good brand ambassadors need to know what
the brand’s values are and what they entail.
Four things to remember

35. Leading
Brand
Ambassadorship
2. There are three dimensions in
ambassadorship: the intellectual dimension, the
emotional dimension and the behavioral
dimension.
Four things to remember

36. Leading
Brand
Ambassadorship
3. Employees who have only just been hired and
senior team members rank the highest as brand
ambassadors.
Four things to remember

37. Leading
Brand
Ambassadorship
4. If a company wants to turn its employees into
real brand ambassadors, it needs to invest in
internal ‘advertising’ & communication campaigns,
just like the ones aimed at customers.
Four things to remember

38. How does an employee
become a brand ambassador?
www.socialseeder.com
@socialseeder
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