How Employment Hero helped this field marketing giant take the admin out of activation

About Brand Influence Group

Brand Influence Group (BIG) is one of the largest field marketing and merchandising companies operating across Australia and New Zealand. Working with iconic names like Red Bull and Huawei, BIG specialises in in-store activation and brand representation for leading FMCG and tech brands.

From national campaigns to eye-catching in-store displays, none of this magic happens without their thousands of reps out in the field every day. We caught up with BIG’s HR and Payroll Manager, Leo Yuan, to chat about how Employment Hero has been helping them scale their people operations smoothly across both sides of the Tasman for over 12 years.

Retail-ready from day one of onboarding

Managing thousands of casual and part-time staff, often joining daily, meant that onboarding at BIG had to be airtight. With Employment Hero, BIG finally found a platform that could handle the volume without breaking a sweat.

“Onboarding is a huge part of our business,” says Leo. “We have major clients like Woolworths and Red Bull who rely on us to execute marketing campaigns across hundreds of locations. It’s crucial that we onboard quickly and compliantly.”

Before Employment Hero, onboarding was a logistical nightmare. BIG relied on a tangle of spreadsheets, email chains, and legacy systems.

“Onboarding new staff was time-consuming, and making sure documentation was up to date across platforms took a lot of administrative effort,” Leo says.

Switching to Employment Hero brought instant clarity and control. The automated onboarding system has been a standout: new employees can complete paperwork digitally, with everything securely stored in one platform. 

“Offer letters, contracts, employee records – it’s all in one place,” says Leo. “It’s crystal clear from the start.”

From field data to fast decisions

With such a high-velocity workforce, real-time analytics are critical. 

“We need to know what’s really happening – how many starters, how many leavers, what’s driving turnover,” says Leo. “The HR data Employment Hero provides is a huge help.”

BIG also relies on compliance updates and HR templates to stay aligned with changing employment laws. These features ensure their HR processes are consistent and legally sound without constantly needing to consult external advisors.

The power of self-service

With over 5,000 employees active across ANZ, BIG’s HR team needed to avoid being a bottleneck. Enter the self-service employee portal, one of the platform’s most valued tools.

“The employee self-service model is probably the most useful feature,” says Leo. “Without it, we’d need six more people just to handle basic requests.”

Now, employees can manage their own profiles, leave requests, and timesheets – massively reducing the number of admin queries and streamlining processes across the board. 

“Everyone has access, and it’s simple.”

Casting the right talent, faster and smarter

BIG recently began using Employment Hero’s SmartMatch recruitment tool to find stronger candidates faster. 

“It’s super exciting for us,” says Leo. “Our recruitment team is already using it to source better candidates – and we’re hiring from those matches!”

Time back for the BIG-ger picture

Thanks to automation, BIG’s HR team now has the bandwidth to focus on more strategic initiatives. 

“With much of the admin now automated, our HR team has more capacity to focus on employee engagement, culture-building, and leadership development,” says Leo.

That time savings has also enabled BIG to invest more in growth projects, with confidence that Employment Hero is handling the employment processes in the background.

12 years going strong…

BIG has been with Employment Hero since 2013 – an incredible run in the fast-paced tech world, considering how often they’ve been approached by other HR platforms.

“There’s no reason to leave: it’s integrated, local, and it works,” Leo shares. “You don’t have many competitors who can do what you do across both Australia and New Zealand.”

And he’s been spreading the good news, too.

“I’ve already referred two or three customers to you. It’s a game changer for businesses like ours.”

Want to experience Employment Hero for yourself?

Whether you’re onboarding thousands of reps weekly, managing compliance across borders, or simply trying to cut back on admin, Employment Hero is your backstage pass to HR success.

Employment Hero is your all-in-one Employment Operating System for HR, payroll, and recruitment built to simplify compliance, automate admin, and empower your people. From onboarding to offboarding, we streamline every step of the employee lifecycle so you can spend less time on processes and more time scaling your business.