That’s a great point. Values competitions can be extremely successful. A case in point is the Green Smackdown conducted by Kelly Holmes at National Instruments this past summer. She conceived a one-week competition between two internal change agents who vied to see who could reduce their carbon footprint the most. They each recruited teams to join them, and fanned the flames of competition through Twitter, email, blogs, videos and snacks. A very creative, successful endeavor!

What seems critical here is that companies create environment conducive for intrapreneurs to emerge as internal change agents.

As you know, many retail companies with a presence in communities across the country encourage employees to take time each month “on the clock” to volunteer in their local communities.

While these programs represent a great starting point, real impact requires scale. Opportunities exist to scale these employee program by creating incentives for “consumers” to team-up with change agents within the ranks of the company to tackle change in their communities.

By creating values marketing competitions that reward consumers for rallying behind a company’s internal change agents, companies not only achieve scale but generate an evolving pipeline of stories that can be seeded across the Web.

… just a thought.

Deron Triff
CEO, Changents.com