Unlocking Employee Potential: How Brand Champions Drive Success

Nico Varela in Business & Economy August 2025 • 4 min read.

"Inspiring commitment and navigating change in corporate branding."

In today's dynamic business landscape, corporate branding goes beyond logos and slogans. It's about creating a cohesive identity that resonates with both employees and customers. A critical component of successful corporate branding is the cultivation of 'Brand Champions'—employees who passionately advocate for the brand and inspire their colleagues to embrace its values.

Brand champions are more than just enthusiastic employees; they are the linchpins of brand strategy implementation. They believe in the brand's mission, understand its core values, and actively promote it within the organization. Their commitment fosters a culture of brand advocacy, ensuring that every employee understands and embodies the brand's identity.

But what makes a brand champion effective, especially when a company is undergoing a significant shift in its corporate brand strategy? How do these individuals navigate change, inspire commitment, and ensure that the brand's evolution is embraced throughout the organization? Recent research provides valuable insights into the behaviors and strategies that define successful brand champions.

What Makes a Brand Champion?

Brand champions are responsible for encouraging employee commitment to the corporate brand strategy. They strongly believe in and identify with the brand concept - the company's selected brand meaning, which underpins corporate brand strategy implementation.

Brand champions play a crucial role in bridging the gap between brand strategy and employee engagement. They are the storytellers, the advocates, and the role models who bring the brand to life within the organization. Their actions inspire trust, build confidence, and foster a sense of shared purpose.

Articulating a Compelling Brand Vision: Effective brand champions can clearly communicate the brand's purpose and values, inspiring others to connect with its mission.
Taking Responsibility: Brand champions demonstrate personal dedication to the brand, taking ownership of its success and advocating for its values in all aspects of their work.
Getting the Right People Involved: They actively engage colleagues in brand-building initiatives, fostering a collaborative environment where everyone feels empowered to contribute.

These strategies are not just about promoting the brand; they are about fostering a culture of shared ownership and commitment. By inspiring employees to connect with the brand's vision, take responsibility for its success, and actively participate in its evolution, brand champions create a powerful force for positive change.

Unlocking Your Company's Potential

By cultivating brand champions and empowering them with the tools and strategies they need to succeed, companies can unlock their full potential and create a lasting competitive advantage. In an ever-evolving business landscape, brand champions are the key to navigating change, inspiring commitment, and ensuring that the corporate brand remains a powerful force for success.

About this Article -

This article was crafted using a human-AI hybrid and collaborative approach. AI assisted our team with initial drafting, research insights, identifying key questions, and image generation. Our human editors guided topic selection, defined the angle, structured the content, ensured factual accuracy and relevance, refined the tone, and conducted thorough editing to deliver helpful, high-quality information.See our About page for more information.

This article is based on research published under:

DOI-LINK: 10.1057/s41262-017-0057-1, Alternate LINK

Title: Brand Champion Behaviour: Its Role In Corporate Branding

Subject: Marketing

Journal: Journal of Brand Management

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Authors: Raisa Yakimova, Felix Mavondo, Susan Freeman, Helen Stuart

Published: 2017-08-14

Everything You Need To Know

What exactly defines a Brand Champion within a company?

A Brand Champion is an employee who passionately advocates for the corporate brand, believes in its mission and core values, and actively promotes it within the organization. They are not just enthusiastic employees; they are crucial for implementing brand strategy by bridging the gap between the strategy and employee engagement, acting as storytellers, advocates, and role models. Their actions inspire trust, build confidence, and foster a sense of shared purpose. Essentially, they embody and communicate the 'brand concept,' which is the company's chosen brand meaning, ensuring every employee understands and represents the brand's identity.

How do Brand Champions specifically contribute to a company's brand strategy implementation?

Brand Champions play a vital role in the implementation of a corporate brand strategy by bridging the gap between the strategy itself and employee engagement. They articulate a compelling brand vision, ensuring that everyone understands the brand's purpose and values. They take responsibility for the brand's success, demonstrating dedication and advocating for its values. Finally, they involve their colleagues in brand-building initiatives, creating a collaborative environment where everyone feels empowered to contribute to the brand's evolution.

What key behaviors and strategies distinguish successful Brand Champions?

Successful Brand Champions exhibit several key behaviors. They can clearly articulate the brand's purpose and values, inspiring others to connect with the brand's mission. They take personal responsibility for the brand's success, demonstrating dedication and advocating for its values in all aspects of their work. Furthermore, they engage colleagues in brand-building initiatives, promoting a collaborative environment where everyone can contribute. These strategies foster shared ownership and commitment to the brand, creating a powerful force for positive change.

What is the significance of the 'brand concept' in relation to Brand Champions and brand strategy?

The 'brand concept'—the company's selected brand meaning—underpins the entire corporate brand strategy. Brand Champions must strongly believe in and identify with this concept to effectively advocate for the brand. By understanding and embodying the 'brand concept,' Brand Champions ensure that the brand's identity is consistently communicated and embraced throughout the organization. This alignment between the 'brand concept', Brand Champions, and the broader brand strategy creates a cohesive and compelling brand presence.

How can cultivating Brand Champions unlock a company's full potential and provide a lasting competitive advantage?

By cultivating Brand Champions and equipping them with the tools and strategies necessary for success, companies can unlock their full potential and gain a lasting competitive advantage. Brand Champions are pivotal in navigating change, inspiring commitment, and ensuring that the corporate brand remains a powerful force. They foster a culture of brand advocacy, ensuring that every employee understands and embodies the brand's identity, leading to a cohesive brand presence and enhanced employee engagement, ultimately driving the company's success in a dynamic business landscape.