Influx

It was not so long ago that employees in most retail environments were held in little regard by marketing teams. Sure, there was some training, but in the main they were under utilized as brand communicators.

This was obviously something of an oversight and since the sale of Zappos to Amazon and the 12 page essay on the company in The New Yorker, it’s now fashionable to make sure employees are a critical part of your brand arsenal.

The latest case is Starbucks who seem keen to shine a light on the diversity and personality of its employee base and is turning to user generated content to collect the stories.

On the site My Starbucks Story, employees are encouraged to make a video that explains how the company fits into their lives and the role they play at the company on a day-to-day basis.

It’s unclear what’s going to happen to this content, but generating it will give the brand the opportunity to showcase the unique characters that make the Starbucks workforce.

I guess we are going to see more of this stuff in the future as companies try to become the “Zappos” of their category.

Posted by Ed Cotton