Defining Culture
Through Distillation
Somewhere near Frankfurt, a process engineer finishes her shift and drives to a local conservation area where she leads habitat restoration efforts. In New Mexico, a scientist spends Friday evenings mentoring high school students interested in chemistry. In Edinburgh, a logistics coordinator rehearses with his brass ensemble before Sunday service.
Are these simply stories about the time away from work? Or are they stories that communicate the motivations behind what people do 9-5, Monday-Friday? Maybe a company's values aren't something to be instilled, but something already present, waiting to be found and distilled?
This is the question Curia, Inc. faced. They were a company formed through mergers, and having just introduced a new public facing brand, they realized they needed to solidify an internal identity that was authentic and organic, not top down. But with 10,000 people on three continents, where do you start?
vividlab• results guided a visual emphasis on networks
definite•, the ideas and execution creative studio, was engaged to help answer that question. Our approach began with our vividlab• process, an intensive deep learning phase designed to surface authentic stories from within the organization. We conducted conversations with employees across multiple countries, not asking about corporate values but listening for patterns in how people actually lived.
Maybe a company's values aren't something to be instilled, but something already present, waiting to be found and distilled?
What emerged was simple but revealing. The values Curia wanted to celebrate weren't aspirational. They were already present in the lives of their employees, expressed in choices made outside the workplace. The scientist who mentored students wasn't doing it because of a corporate initiative. The engineer who led conservation efforts had been doing so for years. These weren't brand ambassadors. They were people whose internal compass happened to point in the same direction.
Kyle Johnson, definite•'s Lead Video Director, directed and wrote the series. Guided by insights developed during his PhD research, he framed each story as a dual portrait: the employee at work, and the employee in their element. The visual language drew the connection without stating it.
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vividlab• results guided a visual emphasis on networks
tktk
vividlab• results guided a visual emphasis on networks
The series won a Gold Telly Award and has become a centerpiece of Curia's internal communications, shown at onboarding sessions and leadership gatherings. Clients receive it too, as evidence that the company's stated commitments have roots that run deeper than marketing.
These weren't brand ambassadors. They were people whose internal compass happened to point in the same direction.
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"What stays with me is how proud these employees were that we wanted to tell their stories," Johnson says. "They didn't think their weekend activities were remarkable, but in my heart I knew they were, and I the proof is clearly in the final product. I'm proud that we were able to uncover the remarkable beauty that was already there, and make that into something really useful."
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