With EE poised to launch the first 5G network in the UK, 117,000 employees of BT Group needed to feel proud, fired up and involved in such a landmark moment for the business.
The solution was to identify the most engaged, tech-loving employees within EE and transform them into content creators, telling the story of 5G in their own unique ways to their colleagues. And, for the first time ever, the campaign would run across all BT Group channels.
The eight-week campaign began with the recruitment of 25 tech-loving employees who would form a team of 5G Makers. Employees were invited to submit a video demo about their favourite piece of tech; 75 applications were received, from whom the winners were selected.
The day before 5G went live, the Makers were brought together for training. They were given insider information by experts on the technology, and trained in how to create great content. A folding tip card, for example, suggested they chatted to their subjects before filming, turn on the ‘grid’ on their phone’s camera and made sure they charged everything up. There was even advice on the ‘beauty zone’ for selfies – the sweet spot between ‘shortening zone’ and ‘unflattering angle zone’.
5G Makers were there when Stormzy played an exclusive gig on a floating stage on the Thames to mark the launch of the service, which was streamed live in a 360-degree virtual reality experience.
The roving reporters were dressed in 5G Makers branded hoodies and t-shirts and equipped with notepad and pen, content creation guidelines and tripods and gimbals for capturing footage on their phones. They were also at 5G press launches in six cities across the UK. They manned the 5G stand at the company’s annual conference and visited the network testing lab.
At each event, 5G Makers captured behind-the-scenes images and short films. They interrogated experts, invited colleagues to submit questions and even interviewed the chief executive at the launch. Historically, such a momentous occasion would have been promoted internally with a photograph of the CEO launching the product.
The output of the 5G Makers, who described the project as a ‘dream come true’, generated more than 118,000 impressions, including 24,000 impressions for Our 5G Journey and 900 unique views for Meet Your 5G Makers – the most plays of a single film on EE employee channels.
Three months after 5G launch, 23 5G Makers were still on active assignments. The positive feedback from employees, who viewed the content as fresh and unfiltered, has led BT Group to double the original budget to cover an additional six months.
‘This was a great example of distributed trust,’ said the judges. ‘It was impactful, extending PR as well as increasing engagement. The campaign resonated with colleagues and redefined employee engagement.’
