The Mandai Wildlife Reserve, a tourist park in Singapore, posted a video late last year that became a viral hit: two of its millennial-aged employees, wearing staff uniforms, described the park using Gen Z lingo. “Pop off, queen,” one of them dryly intones. “Slay,” says another.

“We let our Gen Z intern write the marketing script,” was the video’s headline — which quickly became a meme across social media, with dozens of brands offering their own spin.

The trend was part of a broader movement within marketing.

First companies paid social media influencers to hawk their products. Now, they’re turning inward: It’s not just social media interns popping up all over corporate social media — it’s employees with all sorts of jobs, who have been tapped by their employers, sometimes through formal programs, to help build the brand.

On Lego’s official TikTok page, its designers explain their process. An Instagram page run by Delta Air Lines called “Life at Delta” features aviation maintenance technicians running through their daily routines and groups of employees dancing to trending audio clips. Portillo’s, the Chicago-based fast food chain, recently announced that it was creating an internal influencer program designed to grow employee followings on their own accounts.

Though the program is still new, Portillo’s has said it would like to have an internal influencer working at every location.

Employees “are among the most-trusted sources” for consumers, said Lachlan Williams, a brand strategist in Britain, because “they’re real people with insider knowledge.” Companies have been leveraging that credibility for decades, for example by using sales clerks as company ambassadors.

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