Today’s (1/18) Wall Street Journal carries a story on page B1 talking about how companies are focusing more of their marketing efforts on internal audiences.
No doubt. Of course. Getting employees to “Be the Brand” is critical for success, because every employee in a company has an effect on the customer’s brand experience, even if it is an indirect effect. (See chapter 6 in my book Brand Harmony for more, or this article from the tompeters.com Brand Cafe archives.)
The WSJ article focuses on how advertising agencies are driving this change. The headline on the continuing page reads “More Companies Recruit Big Ad Shops To Pitch To Their Own.”
My question: Are ad agencies the ones leading this change? Should companies turn to their ad agencies for help with internal marketing? How will ad agencies address this challenge? Will it be the right way? I’ll reveal my opinion in the comments, once a few people post.