How to elevate the people behind the work in brand storytelling

Audiences can spot a staged brand message from a mile away. That’s why some of the most effective brand storytelling starts with the employees who know the company from the inside.

Matthew Hirsch, USA manager of earned media at Pernod Ricard, told Ragan that brands can turn employee experiences into stories that feel human and connected to business goals.

“The most effective approach is to treat them as storytellers,” he said. “Audiences are savvy and can tell the difference between a staged message and genuine human ones. When employee stories are shared with intention, they become a powerful way to build trust and stand out.”

Pernod Ricard has put that idea into practice through stories that spotlight the people behind its brands, including Irish Distillers’ Katherine Condon, who discussed her path into distilling and the innovation underway in Midleton’s microdistillery.

Condon’s interview took the form of a Q&A about her experience as a distiller and as part of Pernod Ricard’s Brand profile. An excerpt is below:

What makes you so passionate about working at Jameson and Pernod Ricard?

Every drop of Jameson is made in Cork; my home county. I am so proud to work for a local but global brand that can be accessed in over 80 markets worldwide.

I am very lucky to work with wonderful people who make it all worthwhile. It’s easy to be passionate when you see the hard work and effort that everyone puts in and I have great mentors, both male and female, who have helped me get to where I am today. Thanks to Pernod Ricard, our brands have grown from strength to strength. Success can bring about its own challenges such as keeping up with the demands and production targets, but these challenges are what keep us eager, excited and passionate for the brands. It’s very rewarding to see a job well done.

Her story shows how an employee’s own career path and expertise can make a brand narrative feel grounded in real work rather than polished campaign language.

Hirsch added that communicators should identify the values or ideas employees are proudest to share and pursue those as brand stories. He’ll share more of these insights during Ragan’s Brand Storytelling Certificate Course this month.

“What are employees proud of and what defines the brands?” he said. “That insight becomes the key to the messaging not feeling forced. From there, it’s about putting employees at the center of the story, not just using them as supporting voices.”

Equipping employees to share the company story

Even when employees are sharing their own experiences on behalf of the brand, communicators still need to give them the right tools and preparation to do so effectively. Hirsch told Ragan that he points people in the right direction when they’re communicating on behalf of a Pernod Ricard brand, but also helps them maintain authenticity.

“You’re not scripting someone, you’re guiding them,” he said. “Whether it’s an employee or external partner, the story has to feel true to them.”

Communicators should focus less on handing employees exact language and more on creating the conditions for them to speak clearly, confidently and in their own voices.

“My role is to give a clear brief on what we’re trying to communicate, while leaving space for someone’s own voice,” Hirsch said. “That balance is where authenticity comes from. When it comes to employees, it’s about setting them up to feel comfortable and confident. I always try to keep the messaging simple and avoid anything that feels overly polished or corporate.”

Aligning message and channel

An otherwise strong employee story can lose its punch if it appears in the wrong place or format. Before deciding where an employee-led story should live, communicators should pressure-test the story against the audience and the channel:

• Who needs to hear the story?
• Where are they already paying attention?
• How would they expect a story like this to show up?

“Choosing the right channels starts with where the story naturally belongs and where the audience already is,” Hirsch said. “Every platform has different expectations, so the goal is to match the message to the environment rather than force it.”

A quick, personality-driven employee moment might work best on social, while a deeper story about the people behind a product may need more room in earned media, internal comms or another format.

“I think about how the content will appear because what works on social is different from earned media or internal channels,” Hirsch said. “It’s also about understanding how your audience engages on each platform, not just where they are.”

For example, a story highlighting an employee’s day-to-day experience on the job might be best served on social media, where the audience can get a better feel for it through video. A more in-depth story about the projects employees are working on that serve the brand could be a better fit for an intranet platform internally or a website blog post externally. That can help the story feel less like branded content and more like a look at the people behind the work.

For more information about Ragan’s Brand Storytelling Certificate Course, click here.

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications.