Full Frontal PR Report
Amanda McNulty Sheldon

A recent Wall Street Journal article, House Training: Now, Employees Get Brand Boost, caught our attention. Mars Inc.’s Masterfoods USA just dedicated a large portion of their $200 million advertising budget to making their 35,000 employees better ambassadors for Pedigree Dog Food. In addition to employee identification tags and office murals that feature employees’ dogs, their employee handbook has been renamed “Dogma.”

It’s a simple time-honored concept. If your employees love your product, they will be sure to tell all their families, friends, neighbors and communities about it.

PR is a great tool for supporting internal communications and brand loyalty, especially when integrated into a well-executed marketing plan.

When not done properly, however, it can be an enormous headache. Whether or not the Racine, WI Miller Beer distributor was correct in firing their employee photographed in a newspaper during a Mardi Gras crawl celebration drinking Bud Light (Miller Beer Employee Fired For Drinking Bud Light), the case illustrates the importance of understanding that internal communications can become public spectacle.

Some might even begin to see enforcing employee loyalty as a First Amendment issue, comparable to the recent case of four smokers being fired.

As an employee of Masterfoods, if I do not have a dog, will I be “encouraged” to adopt one? What if I have allergies? Or am unwilling to make daily forays into the Winter climate so Fido can poop?

Before embarking on a loyalty collision course, plan your objectives and communications wisely:

Consider plans that incorporate celebrating success and team building versus rules and forced consumption, such as:

• Newsletters or email blasts highlighting company success and recent coverage in the news.

• Dissemination stories about the everyday employee from a variety of departments is participating in the success of your company.
• Contests or activities where employees can share their skills. One Fortune 1000 company we know has their employees create group paintings that are hung throughout the hallways of the corporate headquarters.
• Employee events that incorporate your brand in a fun and playful way.

Have your employees offer ideas (lead from the bottom up).

• Create employee suggestion boxes—both online and hard-copy—and make them easily accessible. Make sure someone reads, and responds to, the suggestions!

Focus more on creating an enjoyable work environment, and less on forced brand loyalty. In direct effect, you will be creating stronger brand and corporate loyalty.

• It’s not necessary to schedule free massages. Consider simple additions such as branded white boards, product samples, or a pool table in the lunch room.

Remember that people talk.

• Develop a policy for how you will deal with infractions of loyalty, and be comfortable if this ends up on the front page of your local newspaper.

We will be watching this trend closely to see who’s leveraging employee loyalty programs for great PR…and who is not. If you have a great program—or one that needs help—write to us! We will offer solid advice…and names can be changed to protect the innocent.

Amanda McNulty Sheldon is an account manager and cat partisan in RLM’s LA office who focuses on building loyalty through effective PR.