02: Engaging Employees, Empowering Communities | Case Study

The challenge

Today’s workforce is looking for more than just a paycheck. Employees—especially younger generations—want to feel a sense of purpose in their work. A Deloitte study found that 70% of employees aged 21 to 35 prefer to work for companies committed to social impact.

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At the same time, businesses recognize that engaged employees are happier, more productive, and stay longer. The challenge for O2 (Telefónica) was clear: how could they create a meaningful, scalable volunteering initiative that aligns with their sustainability strategy, strengthens workplace morale, and delivers real impact?

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With 300 million customers and 300,000 employees worldwide, O2 is uniquely positioned to drive economic, technological, and social progress. They needed a solution that would not only empower employees to give back but also turn engagement into a movement.

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The solution

Developed by Brand Response in partnership with NationBuilder, OurBluePrint became O2’s answer to next-generation corporate volunteering.

Rather than a top-down initiative, OurBluePrint enabled employees to take ownership of their volunteering journey, whether through small actions or long-term commitments.

From micro-volunteering tasks like recycling, reviewing CVs, or sharing digital skills to more in-depth activities like mentoring young people, environmental action, and skills-sharing, the platform opened up new ways for employees to get involved.

This wasn’t just about offering opportunities; it was about creating a culture of action.

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"Sam and David from Brand Response have brought great insight into providing O2 with an innovative way to engage our people. Their design work has been received enthusiastically within the business and accurately portrayed the spirit of O2."

The results

To truly embed volunteering into the company culture, the initiative had to go beyond one-off campaigns. The solution was a decentralized, grassroots engagement model inspired by political movements.

At the core of this approach was the “Snowflake Model,” an organizing strategy popularized by Marshall Ganz and used in movements like Obama for America. Regional champions, or “Big Thinkers,” were empowered to create local networks of volunteers, expanding engagement organically.

The results speak for themselves.

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11,000 UK employees engaged in volunteering opportunities. Tens of thousands of hours donated for social and environmental change

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But the real success was the shift in culture.

By designing a platform that prioritized grassroots engagement over corporate mandates, O2 didn’t just create a volunteering program—it sparked a movement. Employees took ownership, built connections, and turned good intentions into real-world impact.

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Key Takeaways

• Give employees ownership — bottom-up strategies drive deeper engagement than top-down initiatives
• Make it easy to get involved — offer micro-volunteering options alongside bigger commitments
• Leverage digital tools — platforms like NationBuilder help structure participation and momentum
• Create local leadership — empower regional champions to lead and grow engagement
• Connect volunteering to purpose — align initiatives with employees' values and company mission

In today’s world, employees want to work for companies that do more than business—they want to be part of something bigger.