Humans of Bentley
Turning Private People Into Public Brand Champions
A customer advocacy case study: how altruism gave Bentley’s most private owners a reason to be seen
Challenge
How do you celebrate the character of your brand community when your most valued owners are publicity shy?
Insight
Niki’s customer advocacy insight was that the privacy instinct of a truly wealthy individual is almost impossible to breach through conventional brand outreach. But philanthropy is different. It’s the one arena where private people actively want to be seen.
By repositioning Bentley as a platform for social impact rather than a symbol of status, we gave the brand’s most respected owners a reason to step forward on their own terms.
Customer advocacy results from the Humans of Bentley brand journalism series
How brand journalism builds a content programme around people who have every reason to say no.
Niki devised ‘Humans of Bentley,’ a brand journalism series of reportage-style photography that captured high-net-worth owners in their natural environments. The car is treated as a subtle partner in their daily altruism, rather than a trophy. We interviewed subjects about their social impact and distributed the customer stories across social, CRM and Bentley’s print magazine. This approach celebrated the authentic reality of the Bentley community and delivered a 10% increase in global positive brand sentiment, recalibrating reputation in line with desired brand values.
Brand
Bentley
Industry
Automotive
Philanthropy
Skills
Brand Management
Journalism
VIP CRM
Led by
Niki McMorrough
Collaborators
Cash & Rocket
H. R. Owen
The Connaught
Jacquemus
+10%
Increase in global positive sentiment ratio
~20
High quality cross-platform images from each digital-first feature
9+
Social media collaborations with companies like The Connaught
Questions worth answering
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More common than you’d think. Luxury brands often have thin first-party data: purchases made through personal shoppers, gifts, corporate accounts. We map the community that already exists around your brand and surface the owners whose public presence aligns with your values. You don’t need a CRM full of names, you need one good story. Let’s find it.
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Customer advocacy at this tier lives or dies by relationships. We’ve done it at senior level across some of the most demanding brands in the world, managing the full process from identifying the right subjects to final sign-off. If your owners are worth protecting, let’s talk.
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Access is the asset. It takes trust, shared affinity and knowing how to ask the right question in the right room. Niki has spent a career working at the luxury end across marketing, creative and editorial, so if your most valuable owners are invisible in your brand story, let’s have a conversation.