Title	* #VIBRANTM FOR 50,000 BRAND AMBASSADORS - INTERNAL BRAND IMPLEMENTATION AT MERC
Brand	MERCK
Product/Service	GLOBAL INTRODUCTION OF A NEW COMPANY BRAND
Category	B06. Internal Communications & Employee Engagement
Entrant	FISCHERAPPELT Hamburg, GERMANY
Idea Creation	FISCHERAPPELT Hamburg, GERMANY
PR	FISCHERAPPELT Hamburg, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
Franziska von Lewinski	fischerAppelt , Fork	Managing Director
Roman Hilmer	Fork	Creative Director
Gloria von Salis	Ligalux	Director Consulting
Jan Kruse	Ligalux	Creative Director
Gina Biel	Ligalux	Designer
Carsten Lerch	Ligalux	Designer
Lara Omlor	Ligalux	Design Consultant
Erik Rüdebusch	Ligalux	Design Consultant
Johanna Stroex	fischerAppelt	Editor
Lisa Adrian	fischerAppelt	Editor
Jenny Filon	fischerAppelt	Editor
Eugenia Lagemann	fischerAppelt	Team leader
Lu Sophie Sommer	fischerAppelt	PR Consultant

The Campaign

Building a brand does not end with defining a strategy and creating a corporate design – it starts here. The employees contribute strongly to this change, both internally and externally. To make this change effective in the long term, the Merck campaign is based on a three-step approach (Value, Connect, Identify) with clear objectives that make the process structured and manageable. In this way, it was and is possible to strike the right balance between general and specific content for the various employees. Another special feature: The Internal Brand Implementation not only explains the brand, but also fills it with life and ensures that it is actively embodied. We have instilled this colourful brand with a unique and expressive character. It expresses itself in ground-breaking and intelligent initiatives and radiates warmth and joy. These characteristics correspond to the core of the Merck brand and are expressed in each activity.

Execution

The Brand Champion Program was the kickoff: 250 "brand champions" around the world volunteered to familiarize their coworkers on-site with the new brand by instituting unconventional activating measures (Connect, Value, Identify). The "Virtual Reality Brand Dome" brought the most important brand elements to life and employees could actively associate themselves with the brand and recognize what it means for them personally via VR (Connect + Value). The approach of the global "I'M employee campaign": As confident brand ambassadors, real 54 employees showed the change of perspective in a personal statement that reflected their own experiences with the new brand (Identify). On the first brand anniversary in October 2016 employees posted under the #vibrantM about their anniversary and, in the process, many small regional celebrations became one huge global celebration. We bundled together the social media posts under #VibrantM in a social wall (Identify). First measures took place in 2016 .

Thanks to the optimal interaction between all initiatives, the idea of the new brand spread rapidly among the employees: 94 percent could be reached a within a very short period. Employees also learned to appreciate the brand with the help of the "Virtual Reality Brand Dome": 95 percent of the users thought that their Virtual Reality experience conveyed "vibrant science and technology" in a unique way. At the end of 2016, 68 percent of Merck's employees confirmed that Merck stands for pioneering technologies and enriches everyone's life. 78 percent of Merck’s employees consider Merck to be a world-class partner and almost as many consider it to be a company full of ideas. The Brand Champions survey confirmed these results and showed that Merck's perception of itself as a "vibrant science and technology" company is shared by all departments and functions. With a total coverage of over 900,000 impressions, more than 8,000 interactions, and 909 mentions, the brand anniversary surpassed typical internal events and, under #VibrantM, it could generate a social buzz with almost exclusively positive connotations (99.8 percent). In addition, there were various mentions by third parties who congratulated Merck on its brand anniversary. This extensive employee campaign resulted in a 91 percent increase in employee referrals from 2014 to 2016. Brand equity climbed by 10.1 percent in 2016 to just under 1.1 billion euros.

The Situation

The campaign is a combination of internal and external PR measures. Thanks to the optimal interaction of all activities, employees have become brand ambassadors who represent Merck’s new brand internally and to the outside world. The Internal Brand Implementation: _Promotes the pride of 50,000 employees worldwide when they hear about their company (e. g. the brand anniversary, awards, etc.) in the media and social networks. _Attracts the best talents, who are inspired by Merck's proud employees as well as its presence in the media – in line with an eye-catching employer branding. _Draws the attention of customers and innovation partners

The Strategy

The brand implementation process – in which the image, content, and values of the new brand are presented to Merck employees around the world in a creative and memorable way – rests on a three-stage, strategic change process: Connect, Value, Identify. Its foundation was a detailed analysis of the employees, examining their communication preferences, access to and use of communication channels, and general attitude towards change. Based on these findings, we developed a series of customized messages to all employees at all levels of the hierarchy. In the first phase, we sensitized the employees to the specific attributes and background of the brand – on both an intellectual and emotional level (connect). Next, employees were expected to translate the brand idea in terms of their own personal goals and behaviours (value). The aim of the last phase was to identify with the new brand.