Employee Power Branding - Part 1 of 3

"Part 2 of the 10 post series on my journey and experience with growing Pleo in the UK"

I’d like to introduce and gather feedback on a concept I’ve been working on for a few months linked to how we've grown in the UK. I’m calling it “Employee Power Branding”.

The concept is simple, allow your company leaders (Advocates) to push content they curate aligned with your company mission, pulling customers into conversations, updating them on company progress and challenging prospects on traditional ways of thinking.

"Create unique personal brands and connect them to your company mission" 

As silly as the Power Rangers might be, it’s a great analogy for the point I’m trying to make, it also brings me back to the 90’s.. Priceless.

The Power Rangers represent a group of passionate young people, all having unique skills and “weapons” but working together towards a common goal.

Never ignore the power of serendipity because this post nine months ago kicked started this entire journey.

The post revealed to me the power and my underutilisation of LinkedIn as a platform, and it helped me uncovered a new personal and business passion - Brand & Culture Building.

"Hakon, your posts make me feel like I’m right by your side, #Hustling with you and the team every minute of every day. I love it!" - Quote from one of my closest #PleoHeroes

Over the last 9 months, I’ve focused on building Pleo’s brand (within my sphere of influence) and establishing from the outset what #PleoFamily really means and how it’s linked to all of us and the commitment we all make not just verbally but also in actions to involve our #Heroes in our growth, journey and story. 

Personally, I see to often how companies broadcast that their clients are crucial to them which shows they can talk the talk but few, in my opinion, walk the walk.

At Pleo, you are part of our DNA and the #PleoFamily from day one, and everyone knows and feels that.

My Top 5 Tips To Kick-Start Your Brand And Community Engagement:

1.) Start a ritual with customers every time you meet them: 

• I, for example, love taking pictures with our #PleoHeroes and I do it to share with our team. I’m privileged at Pleo to travel and meet these guys but don’t forget the team that stays home and keeps the ship running and growing; they also want to see our customers.

2.) Tag customers, and engage with them all the time: 

• I’m religious about this and love seeing #Heroes posts things that I can add value to on LinkedIn - If I know a connection or a name I can drop on a post I do it, they also start tagging you back if done well.

3.) Don’t be salesy on LinkedIn: 

• If you see a post of someone asking for help don’t start by saying let’s have a chat, I can't stand seeing that - what value is there in that to them? Instead, start by sharing something objective and valuable that they can review about the space they are asking for advice in if they look and agree they will naturally message you for more help in the future (or at least I would).

4.) Connect with all your customers and companies: 

• I make a personal effort to connect with as many people in the companies I work with. The natural by-product of this is any posts I do organically penetrate the entire organisation, so everyone is part of our journey not just your single point of contact to that company - they are all part of this journey.

5.) Don’t chase the likes or views - Ignore the vanity metrics:

• Instead use this activity to validate if you’re sharing quality content if you’re getting no interaction, views or engagement you’re probably doing something wrong. Use this as a signal to adjust.

Everyone who knows me knows that I’m very active on LinkedIn, posting daily etc., but what is immediately obvious when you look at my content (I Hope) is that it is unique to my style and personality and that is the key.

I also love being creative and finding an entertaining way to portray a message (see video below).

You need to find your way, find your style and own that space. Merely copying will not work but taking inspiration from several different people is a good starting point, I use my favourite YouTubers as my reference.

The great part here is that I’m not the only one who is active on LinkedIn in Pleo, several people are jumping in on the action and do things in there own way.

Ida has her style and posts heavily in Danish, and often she posts with her heart and passion which can be seen at every level.

Jeppe posts less frequently but drops his power posts every so often.

Jonathan, Nicholas, Dan & Andreas respectively are also examples of everyone taking on there own style to posting and owning their space.

I’m excited to see how many more #PleoWarriors get involved and find there own path and style integrating with our brand values and core principles and mission (it gives me goosebumps..)

In my opinion, the days of depending on your marketing teams to produce content for others and build the brand are gone. Instead, it’s a combined and team effort driven by “Employee Power Branding”.

I'd love everyone's feedback on this, please jump in on the comments, be as critical and experience-driven as possible? Part two will be coming very shortly.

Happy Hustling Everyone #PleoStrong