Copy great thinkers....

I almost dropped these guys from my blog list last week but thought I'd give them one more chance.  Glad I did because this blog should serve as a great reminder for us.  We could spend thousands of dollars marketing to the public or we could invest in helping our people catch the vision, give them ownership, and put them in a conversation starter and TURN THEM LOOSE!  Don't Blink guys... we are on the verge of something remarkable.

Marketing to Employees

Apple is doing a lot of things right in marketing the iPhone. But amidst all the iPhone hubbub, one vital marketing nugget is getting lost:

Apple is giving all its full-time U.S.-based employees an iPhone.

I am a huge proponent of companies spending marketing money on employees. It's simple. Astonish employees and they will, in turn, astonish customers. Giving every full-time employee a $600 (retail value) iPhone is an astonishing act that will only help to feed the already vibrant evangelical corporate culture within Apple. [SOURCE]

At Starbucks, we would also spend marketing money on employees. We knew if we could get Baristas jazzed, they would get customers jazzed. Our biggest marketing to employees expense was producing tens of thousands of T-shirts. For major promotions periods like Holiday and Summer, we would always send stores a box of t-shirts with some cool creative linked to the promotion.

Starbucks Baristas liked receiving a limited edition Starbucks logo'd shirt not only because it was considered cool ... but also because having another company-approved uniform shirt to wear meant less time spent washing work clothes. And Starbucks marketers liked the fact these T-shirts were advertising our in-store campaign when Baristas wore them at work and at play.

Many times our T-shirt expense was the largest line item expense in our retail marketing promotional budgets. Unfortunately, when our marketing budgets would get reduced, T-shirts would be the first to get axed.

I applaud Apple for taking a strong financial stance in showing how much they appreciate employees by giving them a super-spendy iPhone. That says a lot!

Apple is doing a lot of things right in marketing the iPhone. But amidst all the iPhone hubbub, one vital marketing nugget is getting lost:

Apple is giving all its full-time U.S.-based employees an iPhone.

I am a huge proponent of companies spending marketing money on employees. It's simple. Astonish employees and they will, in turn, astonish customers. Giving every full-time employee a $600 (retail value) iPhone is an astonishing act that will only help to feed the already vibrant evangelical corporate culture within Apple. [SOURCE]

At Starbucks, we would also spend marketing money on employees. We knew if we could get Baristas jazzed, they would get customers jazzed. Our biggest marketing to employees expense was producing tens of thousands of T-shirts. For major promotions periods like Holiday and Summer, we would always send stores a box of t-shirts with some cool creative linked to the promotion.

Starbucks Baristas liked receiving a limited edition Starbucks logo'd shirt not only because it was considered cool ... but also because having another company-approved uniform shirt to wear meant less time spent washing work clothes. And Starbucks marketers liked the fact these T-shirts were advertising our in-store campaign when Baristas wore them at work and at play.

Many times our T-shirt expense was the largest line item expense in our retail marketing promotional budgets. Unfortunately, when our marketing budgets would get reduced, T-shirts would be the first to get axed.

I applaud Apple for taking a strong financial stance in showing how much they appreciate employees by giving them a super-spendy iPhone. That says a lot!

Comments

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

Johnny ... thanks for giving the Brand Autopsy blog a "second chance." Glad you got something from my "Marketing to Employees" post. Sorry you aren't groovin' to the things I've written about recently. Right now I seem to be more interested in business topics other than core marketing-related stuff. I hope you continue to keep Brand Autopsy on your RSS feeds.