REI.com
The REI brand ambassador program will be based around groups. The strategy will be focused on place -- built around the company's network of stores as a means of getting people to the stores (Andersson & Ekman, 2009). The groups will promote different outdoor activities, using REI equipment of course. The groups will be run through the stores, and will require 1-2 people at each store to organize. The company will basically serve as the facilitator and coordinator for the groups, but the ambassadors will be running each group. REI has around 140 stores, give or take, so a target should be for a group associated with each store.
Other goals should be associated with memberships, which should increase 5%, and the program should have an objective of increasing sales to members by 15% in the first year. This will occur by getting them introduced to new activities that will spur sales.
Members who participate in the groups will be rewarded with swag -- usually low cost items like water bottles, winter gloves and other items. In addition, the company can reward with special events, like barbeques, exclusive members' nights at local microbreweries and that sort of thing. The groups could even compete in running races or kayaking or something...
There are definitely some great opportunities to create exclusive events for members of these groups. Brand ambassadors who organize the groups can receive their own special rewards, perhaps in the form of exclusive offers on high-end equipment, discounts that might not normally be available to normal group or REI members.
3. Internal buy-in is important, because brand ambassadors are just one component of a total marketing and brand-building strategy. It takes an entire organization to build a brand, not just a few people, and the customers who influence others are part of this (Social HP, 2015). Each store manager will host an information session at each store, where the strategy is outlined. The value of the brand ambassador program will be communicated. Perhaps more importantly, it will be conveyed that the brand ambassador program is an extension of the community/co-op mindset that REI already has. Every customer is already a member, so REI has a certain level of buy-in already, and the new program is merely a way to extend that buy-in to include gaining more participation in the community and bringing in more people to the REI fold. Thus, buy-in at the internal level should not be difficult to achieve, since it builds on…
