4 Ways to Engage Employees in Your Brand Launch

A new brand should change things.

Too often, brand launches are thought of as a design and marketing exercise made up of elements like a tagline, logo, color palette and press release.

But a brand is so much more - a brand is a promise about what a person will experience every time they interact with your company.

It’s a myth that customers are the most important audience when you launch your brand. The truth is that the most important audience during the brand launch is your employees.

If they’re so important, why are employees ignored?

The most common reason employees are neglected during a brand launch is because their compliance is expected and their enthusiasm is taken for granted. Because your company won’t experience a mass exodus when you change your brand, brand teams and executives tend to prioritize customers.

But employees ARE the brand - especially when they are responsible for day-to-day customer interactions.

A new brand comes with new values. When your employees understand the values, there’s a chance that they’ll embrace them. And when they embrace them, it is possible for them to embody them. And when they embody the new brand’s values, your customers will experience the actualized vision of your company.

A logo can’t do that for you and neither can a customer.

Make an employee engagement plan

In addition to the public announcement, kickoff events, and press tours, make sure the communication plan for the brand launch includes employee engagement and onboarding. Start early and communicate often, revealing what you can as the brand comes into focus.

Here are a four ways to engage team members when you launch your brand:

• Distribute an FAQ synthesizing critical information for the team

  • Why are we doing this?

  • Is my job safe?

  • What is changing for me?

  • What isn’t changing for me?

  • What is the timeline for the new brand launch?

  • How can I help?

• Get the team involved in the process

  • Do you have great strategists or designers? Ask for their input even if they aren’t accountable for the deliverables.

  • Distribute surveys about brand elements so the new brand reflects the wisdom of the team.

• Create excitement and make it fun

  • Once the visual guidelines are ready, get some SWAG into the team’s hands. Send brand boxes to their homes if you are remote or put a swag bar in a common area if you are onsite.

  • Put quizzes about the new brand and company story on Slack or Teams and give swag and prizes to the winners.

  • Create a brand launch playlist on Spotify and invite the team to nominate songs.

  • Have a party when the brand launches - invite everyone to have fun together under the banner of this new company.

• Ask them to amplify the brand message on social media

  • Encourage employees to post their excitement about the new brand and their swag, and to like/comment/share social content from the corporate channels.

  • Invite employees to suggest fun hashtags to support the brand launch

Make the most of this opportunity!

Your brand launch is a unique chance to deepen the connection between your business and the team. When your employees love the brand and feel like a central part of the new brand launch, they will offer substantial and useful feedback during brand development, expand the reach and impact of the launch campaign, and embody the spirit of the new company to make it real for employees and customers alike.

If you’d like to learn more about branding and brand launches, I hope you’ll contact Deb!