This process for internal brand engagement, developed in conjunction with HR professionals, comprises six stages, all looked at from the employee’s viewpoint. All six stages are necessary to ensure a seamless and intuitive uptake of the cultural or brand changes.

1. Understand me. It is vital to get a feel for the mood in the place – how things are right now for employees. If there are gripes or difficulties that go ignored, it will be hard to engage people in new behaviours or nuances of culture or branding.
2. Involve me. When employees have some input into change, they will feel ownership and will be more likely to commit enthusiastically. And they often have great ideas!
3. Inspire me. It is vital to ‘mark the moment’ and inspire people with what is new. Even if the thought has been kicking around for a while, you need to present it afresh, with vigour and imagination, to gain renewed enthusiasm.
4. Convince me. Commitment workshops, which should follow hard on the heels of ‘inspire me’. The aim is to go deep and encourage people to think about, itemise, and commit to the changes they will voluntarily make in their everyday working lives.
5. Reward me. People need incentives to stay on track – but they don’t have to be financial. A well-timed ‘thank you’ can make all the difference. Thinking of this as a ‘stage’ encourages leadership to act thoughtfully at key moments.
6. Remind me. People forget, new people join, old ways creep back. Constant reminders are necessary to keep things as fresh and vibrant as they were at the ‘inspire me’ stage.

Normally, we would envisage distinct activities in each of these six separate stages. However, some stages can often be ‘teamed up’ and tackled together as one. Stages 1 & 2, for example, could be tackled together in the form of some kind of interactive questionnaire, and stages 3 & 4 could also be grouped, in a single ‘inspire’/’commit’ workshop format.

easyJet brand engagement case: taught by Helen at London Business School in her guest lectures on the MBA brand management elective.