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86% of employees receive employee benefits from their employers. Brands are using this growing channel to reach target audiences with high purchasing power.
While brands invest a lot of energy in search engines, social media, and influencers, another channel has been growing in the background—almost unnoticed by the marketing department, but all the more present in the daily lives of the target audience: the employee benefits that employers provide to their employees.
The numbers speak for themselves. About 86 percent of German employees receive benefits from their companies, and that number is on the rise. And the market continues to grow: 90 percent of HR managers plan to expand their benefits portfolio over the next two years. For brands, this means that a growing number of employers are actively seeking attractive offers for their employees—and brands that have a presence there can reach their workforce directly.
That is the basic idea behind what is known as B2B2C marketing: A brand (business) does not reach end customers (consumers) directly, but rather through an intermediary company (business)—in this case, the employer. The employer opens the door to its workforce, and the brand provides the offering.
At first glance, it seems cumbersome to reach customers through their employers rather than directly. But it is precisely this detour that is the advantage.
The key difference lies in the economics. Traditional online advertising operates on an auction model: reach is auctioned off per click and becomes more expensive with each new competitor. An offer through employers, on the other hand, ties reach to a fixed user base—the workforces of the participating companies.
Added to this is the difference in the environment. Open advertising platforms are a noisy, crowded space where every brand is competing for the same attention. A benefits portal is a closed, curated environment—the brand isn’t placed alongside dozens of competing ads, but rather within a manageable selection of verified offers.
And finally, there’s the issue of brand protection. Companies that widely distribute discounts through open channels risk diluting their brand value and confining the brand to a purely price-driven niche. A closed environment limits who sees the terms—the discount reaches the desired target audience without damaging overall price perception.
Here’s how it works: A platform aggregates offers from many brands and makes them available to employees at numerous companies. The employer offers this as a benefit—free of charge and with no effort required. Employees discover exclusive deals, and brands gain access to an attractive target audience.
Through FutureBens, for example, hundreds of brands—from established top brands to sustainability-focused pioneer brands—reach employees at numerous employers across the DACH region. For the brand, this creates a channel that delivers predictable reach among a target audience with strong purchasing power, without the auction-based model of open advertising platforms and without jeopardizing brand value through open discount wars.
For Pioneer Brands with a commitment to sustainability or social responsibility, this channel offers an added appeal: the benefit environment reaches an audience that values responsible brands—and places the brand in a context that aligns with its values.
Not every brand benefits equally. The channel is most effective for consumer brands whose offerings are relevant to working people’s everyday lives—from fashion to nutrition and travel to home and wellness. The broader the workforce as a target audience, the greater the impact.
This channel is also appealing to brands that want to reach new target audiences without pouring their advertising budget into increasingly expensive click prices. And for brands that want to protect their brand value and offer discounts in a targeted manner rather than broadly, this closed environment provides exactly the framework that open platforms cannot.
Employee benefits are no longer just an HR issue. They have evolved into a well-established and still-growing marketing channel through which brands can reach a working, affluent target audience in a trusting, protected environment. Those who establish a presence in this channel early on secure reach that doesn’t become more expensive with every new competitor—and a head start in building trust that overt advertising simply cannot offer.
Would you like to know how your brand can reach employees at numerous employers in the DACH region? Learn more about partnering with FutureBens.
What Does B2B2C Marketing Mean for Brands?
Business-to-Business-to-Consumer: A brand does not reach end customers directly, but rather through an intermediary company—such as an employer that makes the brand's offerings available to its employees as a benefit.
Why are employee networks an attractive marketing channel?
The target audience consists of working professionals with purchasing power; the offer comes with the employer’s trust, and its reach is not subject to the expensive auction-based model of open advertising platforms.
Does a discount offer through employers dilute my brand value?
No—on the contrary. A closed benefits system limits who can see the terms and conditions. The perk reaches the desired target audience without damaging the brand's overall price perception.
Which brands is this channel suitable for?
This is especially true for consumer brands whose products are relevant to working people's everyday lives—such as those in fashion, food, travel, home, or wellness—as well as for brands that want to reach new target audiences and protect their brand value.