British Airways: building a brand, from the inside out material Suzy Bashford
What lies behind British Airways' decision to take steps to improve staff morale in advance of a relaunch campaign later this year, asks Suzy Bashford If ever a brand were in need of urgent help with its internal communications strategy, it is British Airways. A catalogue of disruptions has driven the airline 's staff morale to an all-time low. Some of these have been internal challenges, such as the well-publicised cabin-crew stries, while others, lie the global recession, have been out of BA's control. !ow, however, however, the airline has hired content marketing agency "ardour to galvanise support for the brand among its #$,%%% staff ahead of a ma&or relaunch later this year see bo(, below). According to "ardour "ardour managing director d irector *laire +ldfield, the timing is ideal for BA. 'he airline is brilliantly placed to communicate with staff across the company, with a new ownership structure, a better economic outloo and the resolution of the cabin-crew dispute.' It is not surprising that the agency paints a p ositive picture, but observers worry that the initiative smacs of toenism, given that this focus on internal branding comes &ust months before the relaunch. *ynics might uestion whether the agen cy appointment was made only to ensure staff issues don't disrupt the advertising and positive / BA will be aiming to attract. 0ary 1oss, chairman of brand alignment agency Brand !ista , says BA is right to start with staff when rebuilding its brand, but warns it must approach it thoughtfully. '2rom the inside out is the only way a brand shou ld be built,' he ways. 'But if BA is &ust running an internal comms programme and desperately e(pecting it to boost morale, it is doomed to failure.' BA has hitherto shown a haphazard approach to internal communications, claim some commentators, with prolonged stries and cost-cutting creating a 'them-and-us' mood. 1oreover, successful internal communications strategies follow real change, and avoid simply papering over the cracs, warns 0raham 3erome-Ball, principal of consultancy 3erome-Ball, which has wored on internal branding campaigns for BA. '"hen "illie "alsh "alsh previously BA chief e(ecutive, now chief e(ecutive of parent company compan y "nternational Airlines 0roup) came in in $%%4) and the a(e was wielded, the central
department for internal communications was closed,' e(plains 3erome-Ball. 'BA has suffered dreadfully for that in terms of morale. '*abin crew are an interesting audience5 they are committed and proud of what they do, but easily pissed off, and at the moment they are e(actly that,' he adds. '6ou cannot tal to the outside world without an engaged worforce.'
At the strategic core 7espite uestions over the timing of its hiring of "ardour, BA's deputy head of internal communications, Amanda oole, insists that the airline's commitment to the discipline is longterm, not campaignor pro&ect-based. '"hen a brand faces the issues that BA has in recent years, colleagues can feel bruised,' she admits. '"e're aiming to reignite the passion and belief in the brand, starting with our colleagues. his is more than an internal comms campaign8 it's about a new way of thining that puts customers at the heart of everything we do, and all our colleagues have a part to play. +ur colleagues are at the heart of our plans.' +ne brand that has been praised for its internal communications approach ahead of its global rebrand is Aviva. 3an 0ooding, global marketing director at the insurer, who is responsible for internal engagement, believes involving staff early on and allowing their opinions to shape the strategy, rather than presenting it as a fait accompli, was central to its success see bo(, right). '9aving such strong internal buy-in has allowed us to develop, both through our communications and mareting, a consistent tone of voice,' she e(plains. here is no doubt that BA's internal campaign is needed8 the big uestion is whether it will uell the disuiet sufficiently to allow the relaunch campaign a smooth tae-off. 3erome-Ball believes that more time is needed. 'BA should spend the ne(t year getting staff bac on-side. It needs to do some housewor before it turns to the outside world.'
BA'S "#$%&#A ()**+#"(A$")#S A# "ardour's brief is to create 'engaging, informative, integrated and motivational' campaigns for BA's #$,%%% staff, according to the agency's managing director, *laire +ldfield. +ne of the biggest challenges is uniting a disparate worforce, from cabin crew and engineers to baggage-handlers and bac-office staff. !ewer forms of communication, such as social media, apps and video, will be a ey part of the strategy. 1ore traditional channels, such as print, forums and intranet, will also play a role. +ne of the first tass will be to use BA's +lympic sponsorship to eng age staff, building on the '1y $%:$' staff-facing campaign, which has already launched. "ardour's immediate -ob is to get staff e(cited by, and mindful of, the role BA plays in 'welcoming the world to Britain'.
+ldfield says5 'BA has to distinguish between the e(ternal sponsorship and garnering internal engagement at specific moments. "e have) to ensure all the +lympic messages stand out from each other - and that reuires creativity.'
(AS% S$+."%S / S$A00/0"&S$ S$&A$%1"%S +ther brands that have undertaen big internal branding e2ercises
/ Bupa %mployee engagement was a vital part of the private healthcare brand's recent mareting campaign, entitled '9elping you find healthy'. According to the brand's director of internal communications, 7anielle Spencer, this activity integrated in ternal communications with advertising, / and social media 'lie never before'. '"e always try to go first to employees and involve them. "ith this campaign, we started the internal campaign three months before we went live e(ternally. "e also made employees the stars of our campaign, featuring their stories as e(amples of how we go beyond the day &ob to help customers,' she says. /esearch showed that more than ;%< of Bupa employees new about the campaign via a piece of internal communications before it had launched on =.
/ loyds Banking 1roup +ne of the main ob&ectives of the ban's >ondon $%:$ +lympics sponsorship is to engage staff. he fact that the group too over 9B+S mid-sponsorship has made this ob&ective even more important. 'It gives members of staff a central point of interest across the two cultures that are coming together and something for all staff to loo forward to,' sa ys Sally 9ancoc, >ondon $%:$ partnership director at the baning group. loyds is using the 0ames as a way to reward and recognise staff performance, offering incentives such as the chance to be torchbearers and attend the opening ceremony. ?ltimately, one of the ey measurements of the activity's success will be how it has affected staff pride.
/ Aviva Bringing its brands together under one global brand was not a straightforward process and involved engaging more than 4%,%%% employees across $; countries. 2or some staff, the fact that they would no longer be woring for a much-loved, #%%-year-old brand - !orwich ?nion - was an emotional issue. hat's why Aviva management dedicated much time and effort to getting staff buy-in5 the rebrand was announced more than a year before the change was actually made. hat time was spent consulting employees and taing their opinions on board see below).
.)S A#. .)#'$S / "#$%&#A ()**+#"(A$")#S 3an 1ooding 1lobal marketing director, Aviva .)
- @eep it simple "e had to develop a story that would enable employees to e(plain in one sentence the business rationale behind our rebrand to friends and family. - *ommunicate with your people first hey have to feel valued and respected throughout the whole process if you're going to be successful. 6our employees are the people who mae the transition a positive one for your customers. elling them the news first and involving them in the process is a vital part of that. - ie your brand and employee promises together At Aviva, individual recognition is at the heart of what we aim to provide for our customers and our employees. Introducing internal initiatives that demonstrated recognition was a symbolic and powerful way of showing our people that our rebrand was about more than &ust a change in name. - >isten *reate a culture where dialogue is unthreatening. 6our employees are the people who now your customers best. *onsulting with them throughout the process can provide the insights you need to move a rebrand from good to great.
.)#'$ - Be superficial 6our people will be the first to disengage if something doesn't stand up to what you've promised. - /ush it "e announced our intention to rebrand more than a year before we made the change. - rase your heritage "e have more than #%% years of history, which in some marets is very powerful to customers and employees. 7on't throw that away.
