Mi9: a manifesto that reinforced a strong culture during a period of change
Culture change
Mi9 – a joint venture between Microsoft and Channel 9 – was one of Australia’s leading digital media companies. Their CEO asked us to create for them an employee manifesto that would reinforce the company’s dynamic culture, while creating clarity around expected behaviours.
All too often, mission statements and values documents fall flat because they’ve been imposed from on-high. So our advice to M19’s senior leaders? Be hands-off. Assemble a team that extends far beyond the usual suspects for this type of project. And bring in the cynics you’ll need to work hardest to win over.
With this approach in mind, we assembled a series focus groups made up of employees from across Mi9. Their challenge was to shape the creative brief for the Manifesto.
Through these focus groups, we were able to uncover the true culture Mi9, from the ground up. They allowed us to identify the opportunity to depict Mi9 in a completely fresh way — one that hadn’t been reflected in how senior leaders had been talking about the culture.
The focus group insights allowed our creative team to develop a Manifesto the young, dynamic demographic of a company whose values – chosen by employees – were “brave”, “smart’, “humble” and “give a shit”. The resulting Manifesto combined a bold, forthright design with a funny, rebellious and distinctly “anti-corporate” tone of voice.
The solution:
talk to the cynics, talk their language
The outcome: strong commitment to the culture during a period of change
Mi9’s employees greeted the resulting Manifesto with universal enthusiasm, because it spoke directly to them, and in their language. Their overriding response?
“This is ours. We created it.”
And it just so happened that on the day the Manifesto launched, the company was also announcing a takeover. Aware of employees’ commitment to the contents of the Manifesto, the new CEO promised that, while, the structure of the business was changing, the culture would remain. So at a time of great upheaval, the Manifesto gave employees a sense of continuity and connection with the culture they were proud of.
