How iO engaged more than 1000 new employees

Why work with different agencies for your strategy, content, creation, marketing and technology? At iO you’ll find it all.

iO has 12 campuses distributed in 4 different countries; Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Bulgaria, iO became an allround, diverse and international end-to-end agency since the acquisitions.

The accelerated nature of the iO growth strategy drove significant change within the organization and presented opportunities and challenges for employees. It’s critical to focus on employee engagement during any transition process. Engagement means that employees feel like they’re integral to the company’s success. As part of the rebranding, iO needed to transform the corporate values and corporate culture of the 29 different companies into one.

Sunday helped iO bring the focus back to their employees using company fashion. We boosted iO’s employer branding and built on the brand equity they had already established. To highlight the rebranding, they built 10 showrooms in campuses in Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Bulgaria. The showrooms or fashion booths responded to employee questions about the iO growth strategy and presented iO’s company fashion collection.

The collection includes 2 different sport shirts, 5 different sweaters and T-shirts, a range of socks and a cap. A solid range of practical and attractive items. Every employee was free to choose items from the collection. As part of Sunday’s environmental commitment to avoid waste, we only produced the clothing that was actually requested. Focusing on quality items that can be worn and washed again and again, results in better, more beautiful and more meaningful clothing.

As with any new range of clothing, there are a lot of different sizes, designs and items so we developed a sustainable, made-to-measure solution for iO. We were able to match the exact production needs and expectations, while respecting People & Planet. Even though we always like to be challenged by our customers, this project presented a lot of logistical challenges.

When faced with such challenges, we start each project by mapping out the exact strategic needs and specific demands of the customer and then we develop a plan of action that caters to those needs exactly. Since we don’t follow a platform-first approach, we crafted a solution where each employee of iO received their chosen items in a personalized box, with the added surprise of a tote bag and hand written card.

We recently dispatched 1250 boxes to employees spread across the iO campuses across four countries. Stocking all garments in a central warehouse gives us oversight, no-one orders more items than they need, and if they do, it’s super easy for iO to return extra items without anything going to waste.

Change management and internal communication go hand in hand. Rebranding offers businesses a great opportunity to engage with their employees. iO helped employees stay engaged and focused by incorporating company fashion into their internal communication and growth strategy.

When you give employees an item of clothing that they have chosen themselves, they are more likely to wear it. iO becomes a visible and usable part of their everyday lives. Not to mention the fact that clothing is a basic human need. Gifting your employees the choice from a range of branded goodies creates true ambassadors.

A few leftover items are retained in the Sunday Wardrobe™, iO plans to use these items as part of their onboarding strategy. They were impressed by the quality and finish of the items in their corporate fashion collection and placed a reorder for the items. iO’s clients were wildly enthusiastic about the fashion booths too. And good news, even more new projects with iO are coming in SS22!