Philips AG reaches out to employees to shift public perception

Employee advocacy—also known as brand ambassadorship—is on the rise as a business tactic. Philips AG has proven its power with its “Health Heroes” videos, designed move awareness of Philips from a TV and home entertainment company to a health technology company. In doing so, it’s won first place in the “Brand Ambassador Program” category of Ragan’s 2018 Employee Communications Awards.

From simply allowing employees to share approved company content on their own social media channels to more sophisticated outreach strategies, companies are recognizing what the Edelman Trust Barometer has shown statistically: People trust front-line employees as spokespeople for their organizations (and how organizations treat their employees is a primary driver of public trust).

Philips employees could share multiple messages to shape and reinforce perceptions both internally and externally. As noted above, they wanted people to see Philips as more than a manufacturer of TV and home entertainment systems and focus more on its health technology business. They also wanted to promote the company’s culture and values, with a focus on diversity and inclusion.

Throughout the year, the communication team produced a series of “Health Heroes” videos for distribution through paid, earned, shared and owned media. The team measured how well employees helped these videos spread through view time (the videos achieved more than 6,000 YouTube views), number of clicks, engagement of colleagues and intranet subscriptions (which grew by 50 percent).

Congratulations to the team led by Suzy Chisholm.