Turn employee experience into the creative brief
Employee participation should inform the brand's direction before design begins. The Frameworks starts its projects with research that includes conversations across roles, seniority levels and locations, from factory floors and customer service desks to the CEO's office. The questions cover business opportunities and challenges, qualities employees want associated with the brand, customer pain points and what makes people proud of their work.
The Frameworks presents the insights back to the client, confirms the intended direction and turns the findings into a creative brief. That sequence gives employee experience a defined role in shaping creative development, rather than treating employees only as reviewers of finished designs. The Frameworks argues that a brand should be rooted in employees' and customers' genuine experiences and capture something employees are motivated to invest in personally.
Ragan Communications reported in 2025 that International explored what the Navistar and International names meant to employees, customers and dealers before its rebrand; employee sentiment informed the messaging and tone of internal communications.
Sources: The inside story: why your people shouldn't be just passengers on your brand journey