What Apple’s packaging can teach you about employee experience

“Unboxing” became a thing in the late aughts, thanks to Apple’s obsessive product packaging design and the rise of YouTube. People began recording themselves opening their newest Apple gadget and sharing their reactions and thoughts via video in real time, and a trend was born. 

That first encounter with the product, when it’s still in the box, is a critical piece of the user’s overall experience. Apple pioneered this by investing heavily in packaging design, much like how companies spend an enormous amount on benefits packages, workplace programs and employee experiences to attract and retain talent. But here’s where the analogy ends because these investments alone don’t determine how employees actually feel about their workplace. Communication does. 

Perks Don't Create Loyalty. Meaning Does.

Remember during the dot-com boom of the early 2000s when many businesses competed for talent by providing extra perks like free lunches, on-site dry cleaning, game rooms and more? Back then, these perks were new, creative and they definitely generated lots of headlines for their ingenuity. 

But today’s workforce is different. Along with wanting clarity, transparency and consistency from their employers, employees also want to know the why behind the benefits and perks. This is especially true as companies restructure workforces, navigate their return-to-office policies and operate in economic uncertainty. And that is why internal communications has become even more critical.

Proof Point: How Comms Transform Perceived Value.

At IABC’s 2026 Convergence Summit last month, the morning Keynote speaker cited a statistic on how communication influences employees' perceptions of their benefits and workplace experience. The stat said employees with below-market benefits, but effective communication reported a 76% satisfaction rate with those benefits, compared to 22% for employees with above-market benefits but poor communication.

That means the packaging of benefits alone doesn’t necessarily do it for everyone, and companies can’t roll out perks and expect the employees to be happy. Instead, organizations need to communicate the value of those benefits, which in turn reinforces culture and creates a real connection between the company and its employees. 

Corporate Comms: From Order-Taker to Experience Architect.

The demands on corporate communications teams have expanded dramatically over the last several years. They are expected to support executive visibility, employee engagement, culture initiatives, change management, return-to-office strategies, crisis communications and more, often simultaneously and with limited resources. 

To meet this demand, the most effective companies have shifted the function from execution to a more strategic role that communicates and reinforces the company's brand. Corporate communications helps employees make sense of the organization, reinforces trust during times of uncertainty, creates consistency between leadership intent and employee perception and increasingly shapes whether employees feel connected to the organization at all. 

It’s what employees want and expect, yet a 2024 study from the USC Annenberg and Staffbase suggests most aren’t receiving it. The study found that fewer than one-third of employees are very satisfied with the internal communications they receive. This creates an opportunity for many organizations to focus on what and how they are communicating because it directly impacts employee trust, satisfaction and retention. It also creates a strong employee experience and a culture others want to join. 

Investing in internal communications resources, whether it's full-time employees or experienced consultants for short-term work during periods of change or transformation, is becoming increasingly critical for organizations that need to retain top talent. And how that organization regularly communicates with employees will shape those employees’ experience throughout their tenure. 

Back to Apple. The company doesn’t create loyalty through its packaging alone; it creates loyalty through a feeling that permeates the entire user experience, from unboxing a product to its final use. 

I think organizations need to think about internal communications the same way. Employees don’t simply want to experience a benefit, policy or program. They want to understand the why behind them, and what it means for them and their families.