Chicago-based food chain Portillo’s taps employees as social media influencers to enhance brand authenticity and recruit younger talent.
The “Maxwell Street Mavens” program features 15 employees creating content for new markets, including Texas and Florida.
Portillo’s sees behind-the-scenes content as a recruitment tool, aligning with research showing its appeal to recent graduates.
The initiative replaces expensive external influencers with authentic employee-driven content, aiming for genuine brand storytelling.
Chicago-based food chain Portillo’s is launching an “internal influencer program,” tapping its own store workers to create social media content, as first reported by HR Brew. The move is designed to boost brand authenticity and attract younger talent as the company expands.
From the inside out: The idea grew from an internal platform where employees were already posting about their jobs. The company believes its team can tell the brand’s story better than official marketing could, especially in new markets like Texas and Florida. The initial group, named the “Maxwell Street Mavens,” includes 15 employees creating content for new campaigns.
The brand tightrope: Portillo’s strategy formalizes a dynamic where employees are already becoming organic “social ambassadors.” The approach walks a fine line between corporate control and creator freedom, aiming to provide guidelines without stripping the content of its authenticity, a challenge highlighted when a viral employee video at Chick-fil-A led competitor Shake Shack to offer a paid deal.
Winning the talent war: While driving sales is a goal, the bigger prize is recruitment. With research from Handshake showing that seeing behind-the-scenes content makes nearly three-quarters of recent grads more likely to apply for a job, Portillo’s sees the program as a direct line to its future workforce.
The bottom line: By trading the high cost of external influencers for the perceived authenticity of its own staff, Portillo’s is betting that its best marketing asset is already on the payroll.
Reading Recap:
Also on our radar: Meanwhile, social media is highlighting fast-food workers in other, less structured ways, with one Burger King employee in South Carolina going viral after a customer filmed her running an entire store by herself during an understaffed shift, prompting a corporate policy review.
Chicago-based food chain Portillo’s taps employees as social media influencers to enhance brand authenticity and recruit younger talent.
The “Maxwell Street Mavens” program features 15 employees creating content for new markets, including Texas and Florida.
Portillo’s sees behind-the-scenes content as a recruitment tool, aligning with research showing its appeal to recent graduates.
The initiative replaces expensive external influencers with authentic employee-driven content, aiming for genuine brand storytelling.
Chicago-based food chain Portillo’s is launching an “internal influencer program,” tapping its own store workers to create social media content, as first reported by HR Brew. The move is designed to boost brand authenticity and attract younger talent as the company expands.
From the inside out: The idea grew from an internal platform where employees were already posting about their jobs. The company believes its team can tell the brand’s story better than official marketing could, especially in new markets like Texas and Florida. The initial group, named the “Maxwell Street Mavens,” includes 15 employees creating content for new campaigns.
The brand tightrope: Portillo’s strategy formalizes a dynamic where employees are already becoming organic “social ambassadors.” The approach walks a fine line between corporate control and creator freedom, aiming to provide guidelines without stripping the content of its authenticity, a challenge highlighted when a viral employee video at Chick-fil-A led competitor Shake Shack to offer a paid deal.
Winning the talent war: While driving sales is a goal, the bigger prize is recruitment. With research from Handshake showing that seeing behind-the-scenes content makes nearly three-quarters of recent grads more likely to apply for a job, Portillo’s sees the program as a direct line to its future workforce.
The bottom line: By trading the high cost of external influencers for the perceived authenticity of its own staff, Portillo’s is betting that its best marketing asset is already on the payroll.
Reading Recap:
Also on our radar: Meanwhile, social media is highlighting fast-food workers in other, less structured ways, with one Burger King employee in South Carolina going viral after a customer filmed her running an entire store by herself during an understaffed shift, prompting a corporate policy review.
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