Situation

The air conditioning business of a Fortune 250 diversified global manufacturer had invented a highly effective electronic home air cleaning technology.  By removing dust, pollen, dander, pet hair and other irritants from a home’s air, the unit offered relief to allergy sufferers and people with breathing problems.

This technology opened an entirely new line of business for the company.  The system developed from this new approach became a strategic product highlighting the company’s best-in-class technology and innovation.  Competitors at the time had nothing like it.

Communication Approach

The internal communications team proposed engaging colleagues by building on a successful “ambassador” program conducted for an earlier strategic product.  In an employee survey held one year after that program, 90% of employees, not just ambassadors, could still identify that product’s competitive advantages.

A “Clean Air Ambassador” program would create excitement among employees and educate them about the new product’s features.  Ambassadors would be encouraged to tell family, friends and neighbors about the new system.

Employees who signed up as ambassadors received:

• A T-shirt with the product’s logo (shirts for family members, including babies were offered for a limited time)
• A certificate and a letter signed by the corporate CEO and leader of the residential air conditioning business
• Product literature
• Access to a special intranet site providing product resources for Ambassadors
• An email newsletter every two weeks with product news

The program focused on U.S. employees since that was the only country where the air cleaning product was sold.  Employees outside the U.S. were free to become Ambassadors and received a T-shirt and certificate.

Implementation

The program was launched with prominent positioning on the intranet home page.  Employees could click once, enter a shirt size, then confirm their contact information to sign-up as Ambassadors.

Clean Air Parties – Recruitment events with product demonstrations were held at locations with more than 200 employees (salaried and hourly, including manufacturing line workers).  Employees, including manufacturing workers on break, could come to the party for a light snack, watch the product demos and play games related to the clean air product.  In one game, contestants used brooms to sweep away stuffed animal ‘microbes’.  The winner received some low-cost prizes such as air fresheners.

These events were implemented through a “Party in a Box” approach.  Locations received a kit with product literature, clean air-themed music, the stuffed microbes and other paraphernalia.  They were also given a $250 to $500 budget for the events, mostly to cover food.  Food choices reflected local preferences, with sausages in Wisconsin and barbeque in Texas.

Corporate intranet news coverage of the events featured photos of employees signing-up to be ambassadors, eating the snacks and playing the games.  This conveyed an image that the program was fun and popular.

Result

This highly successful program engaged employees across the U.S.

• More than 6,400 – one-third the U.S. workforce – became ambassadors for the home air cleaning product.

• The Ambassador Intranet site was visited 26,346 times by 6,500 unique users during the duration of the program.  Visits continued long after the Ambassador program wound down.

• The Ambassador events were very well attended, attracting large sustained crowds at each location.  Drawn by the food and fun, employees who did not become Ambassadors still attended the events and watched the product demos.  Event organizers became very enthusiastic about their events and competitive with other sites.  One location even held events during the middle of the night for third shift workers.

 

[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]