How Schwinn Uses Stories to Power Brand Advocacy
b'\\u201cDon\\u2019t be afraid to to embrace your brand ambassadors. Make them a part of your marketing.\\u201d Schwinn Bicycles is a historic brand that\\u2019s part of the lives of generations. As Associate Marketing Manager, it\\u2019s part of Samantha Hersil\\u2019s job to communicate this\\xa0history while finding new stories from customers, advocates, and their own innovations.\\xa0We discussed all of this\\xa0on this week\\u2019s episode of the On Brand podcast.\\nAbout\\xa0Samantha Hersil\\nSamantha Hersil is the Associate Marketing\\xa0Manager for Schwinn Bicycles and is a 2013 University of Wisconsin alumni. When not immersed in the digital world of marketing and communication for Schwinn Bicycles she can be found, volunteering, practicing yoga, riding bikes, running around her neighborhood, or knee deep in one of her many hobbies.\\nLast year Samantha completed her first marathon and biked her first half century. An avid adventure seeker she currently is planning her next backpacking adventure with her boyfriend Chris. Samantha is highly involved in Girls on the Run and believes you can always make time to better your health and give back to your local community.\\nEpisode Highlights\\nScrappy marketing at Schwinn.\\xa0I began the show by sharing my favorite story about Samantha Hersil. While refining the ideas that would become my book\\xa0Get Scrappy,\\xa0Samantha was instrumental in helping me define the term. It\\u2019s not just about your business size because, as she says, \\u201cWe could all use a few people and a few dollars more.\\u201d\\n\\u201cCommunication is a key to a brand team.\\u201d\\xa0A big part of Samantha\\u2019s job is communicating Schwinn\\u2019s\\xa0message both internally to other team members and externally to their brand ambassadors. \\u201cWe have about 24 brand ambassadors total. They are people that speak to every discipline, age, gender. Schwinn is really about bikes for everyone.\\u201d Message strategy is also key. \\u201cWe\\u2019re like the auto industry. We\\u2019re always planning one year while executing another.\\u201d\\nStories matter.\\xa0\\u201cWe went to Winnebago\\u2019s event in Iowa. Our customers are similar \\u2014 similar lifestyles \\u2014 they\\u2019re people seeking adventures. We talked to real people and collected stories \\u2014 emotional stories of people saving up for their bikes. These stories are important as they end up on our blog and in our marketing.\\u201d\\nLiving the brand.\\xa0As you can tell from the adventures outlined in Samantha\\u2019s bio and her community involvement, it\\u2019s very important for her and other employees to live the brand. In fact, there\\u2019s an hour-long lunch break where many employees ride together and teach each other. There are road bikes, mountain trails, and gentle rides. In addition to living the brand, this is also great for company culture as it creates a cross-pollination of teams throughout the organization. \\u201cI don\\u2019t get to interact with people in accounting every day.\\u201d\\nWhat brand has made Samantha smile recently?\\xa0\\u201cWith watching the Olympics I\\u2019d have to say the Apple iPhone ad with Maya Angelou. It\\u2019s so inspiring. It really speaks to what I do as a brand marketer.\\u201d\\nTo learn more about Samantha,\\xa0you can connect with her on LinkedIn or the various Schwinn social media channels which you can find on their website.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'