How to Design a Winning Internal Campaign Strategy
Seven pillars of internal campaign design - A Comprehensive Summary
Welcome to Edition #013 of People Please! My mission with this newsletter is simple—but ambitious: to help 100,000 professionals shift from being people pleasers to becoming culture-builders.
Over the last 12 editions, 7 have deep-dived into each of the seven core pillars that make up a winning internal campaign strategy. In this edition, I’m bringing them all together—a crisp, clear summary designed to help you understand the full blueprint at a glance.
They say knowledge is power—but honestly, it’s what you do with it that really counts.
That’s why I’ve got something special lined up for you at the end of this edition. Don’t miss it. 👀
Let’s stop shooting in the dark—and start building campaigns that actually move people.
Seven Pillars of Internal Campaign Design
1️⃣ A Visionary Leader → Someone who believes in a better future and inspires others. (Full Version - People Please Edition 3)
2️⃣ Urgency for Change → A clear reason to act now. (Full Version - People Please Edition 4)
3️⃣ Collective Identity → Uniting people under a common cause. (Full Version - People Please Edition 5)
4️⃣ Consistent and Emotional Narrative → A story that moves people to act. (Full Version- People Please Edition 6)
5️⃣ Simple & Powerful Slogans → Messaging that’s clear and memorable. (Full Version - People Please Edition 8)
6️⃣ Technology & Adaptability → Using the best tools for maximum impact. (Full Version- People Please Edition 9)
7️⃣ A Trigger Event → A defining moment that sparks movements. (Full Version - People Please Edition 12)
Internal campaigns don’t work just because they are well-designed—they work because they are felt, repeated, and trusted. Below, I have shared a fictionalised but realistic case study of one internal campaign that brings all seven pillars to life—resulting in a powerful movement that wouldn’t just inform employees, but will stay with them long after the campaign ends in less than 120 days.
Actionable Tips for HR and Communication Professionals
Before we jump to Case Study, I’d like to start by sharing the following actionable aspects that HR and Communication professionals can focus on to create internal campaigns that truly resonate and drive results:
🔹 Map Your Stakeholders: Identify key internal champions, and influencers. Tailor your messaging based on who needs to hear what—and when.
🔹 Design Moments That Matter: Campaigns don’t need to be loud—they need to be felt. Build experiences around real employee moments: onboarding, transitions, milestones, or even failures.
🔹 Create a Core Message Toolkit: Equip managers and HRBPs with the right language, talking points, and visuals so the message lands uniformly, no matter who delivers it.
🔹 Leverage Employee Voices: Use testimonials, stories, or user-generated content to make the campaign relatable and real.
🔹 Visualise Progress: Build dashboards, posters, or even simple email banners to show momentum. People engage more when they see things moving.
🔹 Balance Structure with Flexibility: Design a roadmap—but be ready to adapt. The best campaigns breathe and evolve with the organisation.
🔹 Celebrate Micro-Wins: Recognise early adopters, highlight impact, and build small moments of celebration into the journey. These keep the energy alive.
Case Study: “Project: Refill the Future” — A Culture Movement at FreshNest Ltd. (FMCG)
Objective: To build a water-conscious FMCG brand by 2030 by engaging and inspiring 10,000+ employees across global locations.
1️⃣ A Visionary Leader → Someone who believes in a better future and inspires others.
At FreshNest: The turning point came when the CEO of FreshNest returned from a family holiday in Africa, where she witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of water scarcity. In a remote village, she saw children walking miles just for a bucket of clean water. That moment didn’t just leave an impression—it changed her.
Back home, she didn’t send out a generic corporate message—she stood before 10,000 employees and shared her story. With raw emotion and purpose, she spoke of how that moment shook her into action. Her pledge? That FreshNest would become the most water-conscious FMCG company by 2030. And that’s how “Refill the Future” 2030 was born—a movement, not just a campaign.
Her words weren’t a speech—they were a call to rise. A single TownHall that started a ripple of responsibility across the organisation.
Steps HR/Comms can take:
✅ Bring the leader’s “why” to life through a powerful video—one people don’t just hear, but feel.
✅ Name the campaign with purpose—Refill the Future 2030 connected every employee to the bigger mission.
✅ Translate the emotion into multiple formats—short films, internal events, posters, and podcasts.
✅ Invite other senior leaders to share their own “turning points,” building collective ownership.
Here’s how the CEO introduced “Refill the Future” Project in the Town Hall attended by Global Employees:
She opened with a deeply personal story—sharing how an African holiday unexpectedly changed her life. Through candid photos and raw reflections, she shared the water scarcity she witnessed firsthand. What began as a vacation became a wake-up call—and eventually, a life-long purpose. She didn’t just talk data; she felt it.
She layered powerful statistics with emotional clarity, making the urgency real. The result? A message that wasn’t just informative—it was unforgettable.
To further amplify the impact, she spotlighted the story of a real NGO—Charity: Water—highlighting their powerful message: "Water changes everything." It was a call to action that moved people from awareness to ownership.
2️⃣ Urgency for Change → A clear reason to act now.
At FreshNest:
The campaign “Refill The Future” was kicked off soon after the CEO’s speech in the Town Hall with a powerful internal film titled “Every Drop Counts”, showing real footage from communities affected by water scarcity—compared with the water used in daily operations at FreshNest. It highlighted startling data about water wastage in FMCG manufacturing and urged employees to act before it’s too late.
Steps HR/Comms can take:
Present data-driven insights showing the cost of inaction.
Use storytelling to connect global issues to local workplace actions.
Launch a 30-day internal countdown campaign to build momentum.
3️⃣ Collective Identity → Uniting people under a common cause.
At FreshNest:
They launched the “We Help Refill” wall—a digital and physical space for employees to post water-saving ideas, stories from home, and team photos. Each employee received a personalised, reusable bottle etched with their name and the Refill the Future symbol.
Steps HR/Comms can take:
Create symbols of unity like badges, swag, or shared rituals.
Celebrate cross-functional team initiatives.
Involve employee families through weekend water-pledge campaigns.
4️⃣ Consistent and Emotional Narrative → A story that moves people to act.
At FreshNest:
The narrative anchored on the idea: “Every bottle we sell should leave a drop behind—not take one away.” This messaging was carried through internal newsletters, town halls, packaging design updates, and a mini-docuseries spotlighting employees leading local water-saving efforts.
Steps HR/Comms can take:
Craft a campaign story with an emotional arc (problem–action–hope).
Integrate the story into all comms touch points.
Highlight real employee stories to personalise the message.
5️⃣ Simple & Powerful Slogans → Messaging that’s clear and memorable.
At FreshNest:
The slogan “Refill the Future” became a rallying cry—plastered on screensavers, floor decals, and team uniforms. Internal quizzes and games helped embed the message deeply into everyday conversations.
Steps HR/Comms can take:
Turn slogans into rituals—e.g., starting meetings with a Refilling Future fact.
Print slogans in all internal templates, from emails to employee handbooks.
6️⃣ Technology & Adaptability → Using the best tools for maximum impact.
At FreshNest:
FreshNest launched a gamified water-saving tracker in their internal app. Employees could log their efforts—like fixing leaks or suggesting efficiency tweaks—and earn points redeemable for team lunches or NGO donations supporting clean water access.
Steps HR/Comms can take:
Use dashboards and mobile apps for real-time engagement.
Set up a Slack/Teams channel for quick idea-sharing.
Adapt content for diverse roles—factories, offices, remote staff.
7️⃣ A Trigger Event → A defining moment that sparks movements.
At FreshNest:
The campaign launched on “World Water Day” with a company-wide 2 -hour water blackout challenge—no water usage across all offices and plants. Employees reflected, shared their discomfort, and posted commitments. Those two hours became a turning point.
Steps HR/Comms can take:
Choose a symbolic day or anniversary to kick off the campaign.
Design a moment of collective pause or disruption.
Follow it with powerful pledges, visuals, and team challenges.
The power of an internal campaign lies in its ability to connect deeply, ignite urgency, and drive real change. When the seven pillars come together—like they did in FreshNest’s “Refill The Future” project—you’re not just launching a campaign. You’re building a movement. One that employees don’t just engage with—they live and breathe.
As HR and Communication leaders, you’re not just crafting messages. You’re shaping culture.
Now that you’ve seen the full blueprint, it’s time to move from reading to doing. Let’s go beyond posters and one-off events—and build campaigns that resonate, inspire, and transform workplaces from within.
🔥 Ready to put this into practice?
Join me for a powerful, in-person Train-the-Trainer (TTT) program where we’ll deep-dive into each pillar with real discussions, practical frameworks, and peer learning. Whether you're building your first campaign or refining an existing one, this TTT is your go-to program to learn, unlearn and relearn.
📍 Mumbai | Delhi | Bangalore
🎯 Only 5 seats per city to keep the experience intimate and impactful.
PS: If you're an HR pro or culture champion, this is for you. But before you sign up, please read all seven editions linked above. Reflect. Reimagine. Then decide if you're ready to lead change from within.
🌐 Reserve your seat now → [https://lnkd.in/gYJ6s96G].
📧 For questions, contact the Be.artsy Team: adarsh@be-artsy.com
Let’s build cultures that people remember—for all the right reasons!
Best | Shikha Mittal | Founder, Be.artsy
Forward this newsletter to a friend or colleague. Once they register, they’ll start receiving the newsletter too.
Subscribed
Why Trust Me?
Over the past 15 years, I’ve collaborated with 450+ organisations across 42 industries, designing and delivering learning and developing programs impacting over 500,000 professionals through my enterprise, Be.artsy. which I founded in 2010 in Delhi, India.
From small beginnings to global impact, Be.artsy has led the way in using learning programs to drive revenue. We're not just in the business of training—we’re in the business of Trainings with ROI! Today, we go beyond learning to deliver measurable impact.