How do we help employees explain our brand?

Find stories that demonstrate the brand's impact by looking through existing case studies, technical documentation and press materials for examples employees can explain. IBM's brand awareness campaign started with a wealth of internal knowledge that was not presented for easy sharing. Stories about the company's contributions to barcodes, ATMs and digital infrastructure were buried in complex materials, leaving everyday impact difficult to communicate beyond technical or enterprise audiences. The practical task is to identify useful examples within that archive, rather than rely on broad claims about the brand. Look for a clear connection between the company's work and something people recognise, then extract enough detail to explain that connection accurately and simply.

Connect complex work to familiar experiences so employees have a recognisable starting point for explaining it. For IBM's campaign, the approach was to frame technical achievements through everyday objects, places and human experiences, using simple, memorable language. The aim was to make the relevance of complex technology tangible enough for employees to discuss in both professional and personal settings. Apply that approach by identifying the familiar object, place or experience connected to each achievement, then explaining the technology's role in plain language. Keep the relationship between the technical work and its everyday relevance central to the story. That connection gives employees something concrete to remember and retell, rather than a technical description alone.

Give employees ready-to-share stories in formats they can readily use. IBM's storytelling platform distilled case studies and internal materials into concise narratives called "story nuggets", linking innovations to familiar objects, places and human experiences. The stories were designed to be visually striking and easy to communicate, rather than follow traditional B2B formats. Content appeared across a dedicated website, social channels, YouTube, internal communications, environmental branding, printed books and event cards. Each format reinforced the same narrative: IBM's technologies quietly shape the modern world. Use that model to provide concise stories through employee communications and shareable materials, keeping the central explanation consistent across formats. Employees then have practical material to support their conversations, rather than having to construct a brand explanation from scratch.