Fans make the best employees because they serve as excellent brand ambassadors, bring unique insight, and work harder. But through the daily grind of work excitement fades, and employers must continually renew and reengage their employees’ fandom.

At WORKTECH20 North America, we joined our client Major League Baseball to take a peek at the digitally branded experience we designed for their HQ in New York City. We also shared examples of other workplaces from eBay and WarnerMedia that celebrate fandom in the workplace.

Watch Firing Up Fandom in the Workplace

Watch the 30-minute talk by clicking the image below:

Tapping into Fandom in the Workplace

In this talk, we spoke to Major League Baseball’s Gregg Klayman about what it’s like to work in a fan-focused workplace and the impact on his team. Here is what he had to say:

What is it like for Gregg, as a fan of baseball, to go into an office like this everyday?

“You’re taking the brand of baseball, surrounding you with baseball, making the brand part of your daily life and daily culture, and yet also giving us, the employee, a luxury or ‘Four Seasons’ feeling. A great combination of design and baseball that makes it feel like you work for Major League Baseball.”

And how does the new fan-focused, branded workplace, affect the morale of your colleagues and team?

“Moving to this office, almost a year back now, it’s been amazing for morale, for the way work feels, you feel like you work for Major League Baseball, you feel like your passions are on display…[At our new offices] you feel a different energy. You feel people want to engage with each other more, not go to their own cubicle. “

Gregg’s favorite part of the MLB HQ, with branded experiences by ESI Design?

“Our conference rooms used to be named conference room 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D, and they were lifeless rooms. And now we have 80-something hall of famers all throughout our offices. It’s something really cool to say, ‘Hey, I am going to the Mariano Rivera room to have a meeting right now.’ That’s my favorite part.”

Fandom in the Workplace: An Overview

Major League Baseball’s Gregg Klayman and ESI Design’s Stuart Fox took attendees on a behind-the-scenes look at the design of MLB’s new headquarters in New York, exploring ideas for creating an office employees want to return to. Beyond swag and workplace perks, timeless design and branded digital experiences reunite employees with their passionate fandom, making the workplace a destination. We also showed examples of digital branded environments that tap into the employee fan at eBay and WarnerMedia. Attendees walked away having seen a best-in-class example of workplace experience design, and understanding why the workplace environment is more effective than perks or swag in keeping employees dedicated as fans and engaged as employees.

Thinking about the adding digitally branded experiences to your HQ?

Let’s chat! Get in touch with our team.