A heritage private bank with modern ambitions had a problem most prestige brands quietly share: the inside story was compelling; the outside story was almost invisible.
Internally, employees described strong values, visible leadership, and a culture built on close, trusted relationships. But dig deeper and a more complex picture emerged. Inclusion efforts needed strengthening, support around career growth was inconsistent, and high expectations weren't always matched by consistent guidance.
Externally, the employer brand was barely showing up at all. When it did, it risked sending the wrong signal: exclusive enough for clients but not welcoming enough for the talent it needed to attract.
The brief was as precise as the bank's own standards: build an employer brand that holds both truths at once. Tradition and ambition. Exclusivity and inclusion. High expectations and genuine support.
We started where the real story always lives; with the people inside.
Through interviews with leadership, detailed persona development, employee feedback and DEI data analysis, we built a strategy from the inside out. Not what the organisation aspired to be, but what it genuinely was and what it could credibly become.
From that foundation, we developed a distinctive EVP and employer brand anchored in four defining tensions the culture actually holds:
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Integrity and Stability
Long-term thinking led by accessible, visible leadership -
Inclusive Culture and Wellbeing
A place where people are treated as individuals, not headcount -
Growth and Learning
Real responsibility, given early, with room to stretch -
Relationships and Support
Collaboration and recognition woven into everyday working life
Validation sessions, town halls and persona testing kept employees at the centre throughout. Not as an afterthought, but as the measure of whether the work was landing.
A new tone of voice, visual identity and end-to-end toolkit translated the strategy into something tangible: from careers pages and social to internal communications and leadership events. The brand didn’t just describe the culture. It finally felt like it.
The employer brand now earns the culture it represents.
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A confident, ownable EVP. High standards that lead to genuine growth; a rallying cry that resonates with both existing employees and the talent they want to attract
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A rich, flexible toolkit built to work across every touchpoint: careers pages, social, internal comms, town halls and beyond
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Employees genuinely involved. Validation sessions, persona testing and town halls ensured the brand reflected lived experience, not just leadership intent
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Leadership aligned around a shared language for what makes this culture worth choosing
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Sharper visuals, stronger voice, better first impression. The brand now looks and sounds as modern as the bank’s ambition
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Built to flex. Messaging architected to work across talent segments, career stages, and whatever growth brings next
The challenge
How 337 leaders unknowingly launched their own values.
After 20 years with the same values, Merlin Entertainments needed something exceptional for their new values launch.
We were rolling them out to 30,000 employees. Across 140 global attractions. In just 63 days. (Deep breaths, people.)
But the real challenge? We needed employees to feel ownership of values they were seeing for the first time.
The approach
Instead of telling employees about their values, we decided to let them tell us.
When 337 of Merlin’s leaders gathered in Gardaland, Italy, for what they thought was a regular conference, little did they know, they were about to become the stars of their own values launch.
Inspired by Derren Brown’s subliminal messaging technique, our team secretly planted the values throughout the venue. They were stuck on bus notices, coffee machines, and door hangers — hidden in plain sight. While leaders were in workshops, we listened to their conversations, wrote their words on giant Post-its, and placed them around the venue. We photographed them with whiteboards featuring their own quotes that perfectly embodied the new values.
For the grand finale, we showed a film that captured all these moments: their quotes, photos, and footage of them naturally embodying the values. The revelation? They’d been living them all along.
The results
- 96% rated it the “best leadership event” they’d ever attended
- +87 NPS for the event
- 1,200+ downloads of the first learning module
