Over the last five years, brand ambassador programs have become ubiquitous, but what are they worth from the ambassador’s perspective?
We reached out to a number of Influencers in the outdoor community who act or have acted as brand ambassadors to major brands to see what there experiences have been like, what they felt their role was, their value and how ambassador programs could be improved.
These individuals have been ambassadors for brands like Columbia Sportswear, Deuter Backpacks, Harbringer Fitness, Keen Canada, Level Six, Mountain Hardwear, Northern Park Apparel, Nuun Hydration, Potable Aqua, Rocky S2V, Stonewear Designs, Terramar Sports, Teton Sports, Tubbs Snowshoes, TurboPup Meal Bars, Yonder App, Ultimate Direction, Woolx, and Zensah.
Before we look at the survey, let’s answer the question: What is a Brand ambassador?
Brands reach out to influential individuals who have a passion for the outdoors. These “ambassadors” are offered free or discounted gear in exchange for or in hope that they will promote the brand over their social network (digital or real-world).
What a Brand Ambassador looks like varies between brands based on the budget of the brand and the ambassador program manager.
Survey Says…
So, let’s dig into this survey and see the ambassadors’ thoughts. As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
Q1: What do you think a Brand Ambassador can offer a brand that a brand can’t accomplish without you?
There were two points that came up consistently: Authenticity and Reach.
Ambassadors feel they offer an “outside opinion” from the “average person” that isn’t censored by the marketing department. They offer passion from “real life” use of a product and share that with their social network. Some felt that the opinions of an ambassador were more believeable and more influential to the purchase of a product.
Which leads to Reach. From a marketing perspective, an ambassador is a cost effective channel for advertising. In the words of one ambassador “…A brand ambassador can very easily, and fairly affordably, reach a much broader group of people online than they could without a lot of work”.
Q2. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being useless and 5 being essential) How valuable do you feel an ambassador is to a brand?
Most results were in the 4 to 5 range, speaking of an ideal brand & ambassador relationship, but they were candid. Others lowered that number when speaking of ambassadors that didn’t really hold up their side of the bargain.
“It really depends on the ambassador. I see some companies who have ambassadors that end up advertising other brands because they want to become an ambassador for them”
“obviously your brand needs to be AWESOME. An ambassador should help drive that as an advocate for the brand and its products. “
A good brand ambassador is an advocate for a brand on the trail and online. “The bigger brands use ambassadors to stay ahead of the curve while smaller companies use them to power into the curve.”
Q3. Do you feel that the brand(s) that you’ve worked with appreciate your value as a brand ambassador? If not, why do you feel that is?
Most participants feel that they were appreciated and valued as an ambassador, particularly when they were treated like one of the team.
“Some brands do an awesome job of bringing ambassadors together – Columbia for example. You feel like you’re part of the team, part of the company, part of the overall purpose. Other brands do much worse – in those situations you end up feeling like your social platforms are being used as billboards, not communities.”
The appreciation shown to the ambassador by the brand has a big role in keeping the ambassador happy, which in turn motivates them to promote the brand and return to future ambassador programs.
Q4. What do you feel are your obligations as a Brand Ambassador?
Responses were divided between contractual obligations and product feedback and “word of mouth” advertising. The general feeling was that an ambassador’s obligation is, “To promote the brand in a positive and effective way through social media and word of mouth”.
When it came to negative product experiences there was a general consensus that they should reach out to the brand first if there were problems. That said, they also agreed that their needed to be honesty to their audiences as well.
“I feel that my obligations as a Brand Ambassador include giving relatively honest feedback on products. However, if I have major issues I’ll report them directly to my brand contact. Smaller issues such as individual fit (sleeves too short, too tight in the thighs, etc.) I share on social media reviews (blog, twitter, etc.) because I feel like I have an obligation to my readership to be honest.”
Q5. What do you feel the Brand expects from you?
“Ultimately I think all brands want ambassadors to act as spokespeople for the brand — through sharing online, tagging in posts and mentions on blogs. The good brands also want you to fit this into your regular posting so you can maintain your authenticity.”
The responses indicate that here are large differences in how ambassador programs are run from company to company. Some are very focused on concrete deliverables, while others de-emphasize a forced marketing approach.
“One of the brands that I used to work with expected a certain number of blog posts, photos, etc. from their ambassadors. The brand I am currently with really has no stated expectations.”
Some ambassadors felt that the brands they represented had unrealistic expectations, describing what they’re doing as “basically free advertising for them”, or expecting them to promote for the brand either before the gear arrived or before they had enough time to test it.
6. Do you feel you fulfil those expectations (why or why not)?
While the ambassadors felt that they fulfilled their requirements most of the time, all of the time or more than they were expected to, there were ambassadors who felt that it was challenging when the brand they partnered with wasn’t a good fit… whether that was literally or figuratively.
“I certainly give it my very best shot, by devoting many, many hours a week to fulfilling what I feel are my expected obligations.”
“I struggled occasionally to fulfill the blog posts requirement for that old brand. I had a lot of turmoil happening in my life and their products weren’t really cut for my body type which made it sort of difficult. “
Q7. Do you feel that the value you offer the brand is rewarded fairly?
Ambassadors received free gear, discounts, and publicity, with larger brands “rewarding handsomely” and small brands more modestly. Was that enough?
Most were satisfied with this form of compensation:
“I think so. I’ve never felt taken advantage of.”
“Most of the time yes.”
“Early on, not so much (except for Teton Sports), but lately, very much so!”
Others felt that their was a lack of balance between investment and expectation:
“Yes and no. The obligations from the brand need to match up with their expectations from the ambassador. A one time shipment of free gear should not come with a list of required social shares! “
Q8. What would be a fair reward?
While some felt that “free gear to test is a reward in itself”, others felt that more was required, but always in line with what the ambassador offered.
“Compensation depends on the effort required. For someone that already writes a lot and is active on social media, I appreciate the promotion and support I get online as well as the support in terms of gear and opportunities to participate in events.”
For ambassadors with greater reach and more influence the expectations from the brand grew larger.
“I believe regular gear and products to be reviewed and tested. Possibly trips to destinations where the gear can be tested best.”
“Money and gear — but only if it’s gear I’d be willing to spend my money on!”
That said, working with a brand that truly appreciated its ambassadors and showed it made the free gear enough:
“For me the reward is in the trust, friendship and ability the brand gives me to experience the outdoors using their product.”
“I also like when brands have events for their ambassadors at things like OR show or in locations central to several of their ambassadors (say, Denver or similar). It makes it feel a little more human.”
Q9. What features of the ambassador programs you’ve participated in are you most enthusiastic about?
The answer to this question was about value. Whether that was being appreciated, being asked for feedback or being treated like royalty, or feeling like part of a community, the key seemed to be programs that went beyond fulfilling expectations.
Here are some of the highlights:
“I really love the opportunity to give back to the community. Tubbs sponsors the Romp to Stomp breast cancer fund raiser which aligns perfectly with my family’s cause so it was a perfect fit.”
“Columbia Sportswear ambassador trips were definitely the best part of the programs. Actually meeting the other members of the team, and discussing gear.”
“I love getting to learn about new products before anyone else”
“Having a personal connection to the brand is important. As an ambassador, I want to be able to ask questions, pitch ideas, talk about whatever and receive thoughtful email responses. ”
“I thoroughly enjoy being highlighted by them, whether on their social media feeds, their websites, or their printed materials.”
“Easily one of the coolest things I’ve been involved with is brand development. Being encouraged to help design and improve upon the gear and see it go from a idea to a usable, functioning product that we test in the field. It just takes the ambassador program to a whole new level.”
Q10. In your experience, what aspects of ambassador programs could use the most improvement?
There were several consistent points of improvement, the most common of which was communication.
“I think communicating with ambassadors is key and letting them know what the brand needs at that moment, how they’re doing, and what’s coming up”
There was distaste of catch-all emails and disorganization. This seems more of a problem for smaller brands, but affects some larger ones as well.
“Smaller organizations are often disorganized and aren’t sure what they’re doing. It takes a few years to get their programs in order ”
“…the company reps/contacts. I’ve had to lead a few by the hand, and kind of do their job for them, which always catches me off guard.”
Q11. What are the top two features you would like added to future ambassador programs you participate in?
Let’s let the ambassadors speak for themselves here,
“Monetary compensation and monetary compensation”
“A webpage on the companies site featuring the ambassadors and what they are about.”
“More ambassador programs that let kids participate.”
“For larger programs, it would be kind of cool to do something similar to #Omniten with existing ambassadors, but one can dream, right?”
“Mutual sharing — as in, share more than just the part you are involved in. This goes both ways — ambassadors share more than just their posts on the brands blog and the brands share more than just what the ambassador writes about them. ”
“More brand ambassador meet-ups”
“I really like the idea of more involvement in development. I think it a highly valuable aspect to the brand.”
“More adventures partially coordinated by the brand. Things like the Romp to Stomp, National Trails Day, or the crazy stuff OmniTen does.”
“I’m actually hoping that I will soon reach the level of being paid, not just in products, but in money. That may be a long ways, of forever, off, but it’s something I’d love to see added to future programs I’m asked to be a part of.”
So, what do you think?
We’d love to hear your feedback on what your experience is as an ambassador. Also, if you manage an ambassador program, we’d love you hear your feedback to. We have a whole survey that we’re working on for you too!
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