Two-member team executes a comprehensive relaunch of an internal brand

Seven years ago, Arrow Electronics introduced a new brand designed to convey its strategic direction of looking forward to technological innovation. “Five Years Out” was a simple, relatable theme focused on a tangible future. However, it wasn’t integrated into the fabric of the organization and employees noticed. This led a team of just two employees to undertake a relaunch for the Fortune 500 company’s 18,000 employees in 500 locations. Their efforts have won the Grand Prize for “Employee Communication Campaign of the Year” in Ragan’s 2017 Employee Communications Awards.

The goals for the relaunch were lofty, including getting 75 percent of employees to agree that Arrow is a brand on its way up and 50 percent to feel equipped to explain what Arrow is and what it does and to explain its brand. 

The campaign involved a new strategy to align with the look and feel of the brand, the use of all major internal communication channels, and opportunities for employees to share their own brand stories. Executing these concepts led to a peer-to-peer recognition program, an online brand education and training module, a one-stop shop for employees to review everything about the Five Years Out brand, a revamp of the intranet, the introduction of a social media sharing platform where employees could share brand-related content, executive presentations and more. 

It worked: Eighty-two percent of employees now say Arrow is on its way up, 63 percent feel equipped to explain what Arrow is and what it does and 51 percent understand the Five Years Out brand. 

The team also beat its goal of 25 percent of employees engaging with the brand: Thirty-two percent completed the brand training, 45 percent participated in a mobile game and 27 percent gave “High Fives” in the peer-to-peer recognition program. It would be hard to argue that this campaign didn’t drive core business goals at Arrow, which consistently delivers outstanding communication.

Congratulations to the team of Adri Jones-McMeekin and Jon Watters (with help from Hugo Meyer).