Diwali is one of the biggest festivals in India, a time when gifts flow from loved ones, colleagues, and companies alike. Every year, stories surface about grand corporate gestures, like the Surat businessman who gifted cars to his employees, and we all secretly wish we worked there.
But this year, the trend went a step further. A reel featuring Info Edge employees unboxing their VIP suitcases flooded Instagram, while others showed people receiving air fryers and cool gadgets as Diwali gifts. Corporate gifting has evolved; it’s no longer just a gesture of goodwill; it has become a marketing tool.
Brands are realising that employee gifting doesn’t just make people happy; it creates organic visibility and strengthens employer branding.
Flipkart did this effectively during its annual ‘Big Billion Days’ sale, where employees shared behind-the-scenes videos of long working nights, office buzz, and the chaos before the sale. Many of these reels went viral, turning internal culture into public promotion.
In a world where ads are skipped, blocked, or ignored, companies are finding value in a more authentic approach to employee-led storytelling. Employees today aren’t just workers; they’re becoming the face and voice of the brand.
Zepto used this approach during the launch of Zepto Café, employees shared personal posts about trying the product, creating a wave of organic buzz. Similarly, Zomato’s Humans of Zomato series highlighted the lives of its delivery partners, while Adobe’s Adobe Life platform gave employees a space to share their experiences and values.
As more brands adopt this model, one big question remains: How do you scale employee advocacy without losing its authenticity? And how can companies encourage participation without making it feel like another corporate task?
“When we launched Zepto Café, we didn’t flood the internet with paid ads,” says Chandan Mendiratta, Chief Brand and Culture Officer, Zepto. “Instead, our team shared their real experiences as builders, as problem-solvers, and as users. The result? Some of those posts outperformed even our most polished paid campaigns,” he explains.
Rohit Ohri, Founder, Ohriginal, believes that culture is no longer just an HR function; it’s a core part of a brand’s media strategy. “Employees don’t share because they’re asked to; they share when they truly have something to say,” he notes.
For employee advocacy to succeed, Ohri emphasises that authenticity and autonomy are non-negotiable. “At one fintech company, we introduced ‘Social Sharing Zones’, not mandates, but prompts grounded in real employee experiences. The result was a 200% increase in organic posts. No push, no pressure!” He highlights, “You can’t force advocacy, but you can create the right conditions for it.”
Meghana Bhat, Co-Founder, Early - a fractional marketing consultancy, believes that every organisation is an ecosystem of stories, and startups have an edge because the domain experts or deeply invested individuals believe in this mission.
“The key is to identify the right voices and link their stories to business outcomes,” says Bhat. “I use a simple ‘Who, What, and How’ framework: Who are the best storytellers, What genuinely excites them to share, and How can we support them by treating them like creators and helping craft their stories for the right platforms?”
Abhinav Srivastava, CEO, Madison PR, believes that the most common mistake made by companies attempting employee advocacy, is trying to force the advocacy. “Saying ‘everyone must post this’ rarely works; it often leads to resistance,” he says.
“Instead, focus on genuine engagement: encourage employees to follow company channels, share news internally before it goes public, and invite, don’t pressure them to participate. Most importantly, celebrate those who do share, rather than mandating it,” he mentions.
From Employees to Advocates
To kickstart an effective employee advocacy program, experts share key strategies on how to do it the right way.
Ohri explains, “At Ohriginal, we conduct story-mining workshops to help employees uncover meaningful narratives, and create recognition rituals that celebrate resonance over reach. Our content coaching equips them with tools—not templates—for authentic storytelling, while leadership shadowing encourages managers to genuinely spotlight team successes.”
Bhat believes that thinking of employee advocacy is like running an internal creator program. Some employees are naturally skilled at content creation, while others may not be.
“Assign someone, either in-house or external, to help extract meaningful stories and turn them into engaging content. For those already creating content - amplify their voices by resharing, celebrating their posts, and giving them visibility. Most importantly, build a culture that genuinely appreciates and values storytelling from within,” she mentions.
Srivastava underscores that employee advocacy should be about building an emotional bank between the company and its people. When that alignment exists, employees naturally become brand advocates.
“The advice to HR and communications teams is to guide but not instruct employees through the process. For instance, sharing an update with a note like: ‘Here’s what we’ve announced, if it resonates with you, here’s how you might talk about it.’ The key is to invite participation, not enforce it. Authenticity thrives when expression is voluntary,” he mentions.
Employee advocacy should be treated like any other creator-led earned media program. The impact can be measured through key indicators such as growth in brand search volume, direct traffic, or store visits driven by social platforms, and organic engagement, including reposts, shares, and reactions.
Mendiratta says that the impact of a strong employee advocacy program is not just visible, it’s measurable. “Our employer brand today isn’t built on glossy campaigns, but on curiosity and connection,” he explains. “People reach out to Zepto not just for what we do, but for who we are as seen through the voices of our own employees. That’s the real win: when advocacy is rooted in authenticity, and that authenticity shapes the brand.”
Employee advocacy is no longer a buzzword confined to startup culture; it’s fast becoming a strategic imperative across traditional legacy brands, too. What began as a grassroots practice among agile, founder-led teams is now influencing boardroom agendas in large organisations. The reason is simple: people trust people more than they trust polished campaigns.
But true employee advocacy isn’t about broadcasting corporate wins through forced participation. It’s about creating the kind of workplace where people want to share their stories. As one expert puts it, leaders light the match, but it’s the culture that keeps the flame burning. CEOs matter, not as distant figureheads or keynote speakers, but as real, relatable individuals.
That’s the shift. Real cultural amplification happens when not just the senior leadership, but also mid-level managers and interns feel equally safe to express themselves. When a junior designer posts about their first client win, or an operations executive shares a behind-the-scenes story from launch day, that’s the kind of advocacy that sticks. It’s not top-down. It’s inside-out.
To unlock this, companies need to stop thinking about employee advocacy as a one-off campaign. Instead, think of it as building a creator ecosystem within the company. Employees are natural storytellers. The goal isn’t to script them, but to support them in helping surface those stories, shape them well, and celebrate them often.
