That can add up, but if that’s all there is… you’re not building culture. You’re just surface decoration.
What, then, is a real organizational culture?
It’s that invisible fabric that connects what an organization believes with what it actually does.
It’s the energy you feel every day, even when no one is looking.
It’s the way people belong, participate, and evolve within a collective project.
A living culture isn’t decreed. It’s lived.
And it’s expressed in:
– How difficult decisions are made
– What stories are told and celebrated
– What is tolerated (and what isn’t)
– How people are recognized
– What rituals mark the rhythm of the year
– What emotions circulate within the team
– What symbols, gestures, and words generate connection
It’s not a document. It’s an ongoing conversation.
It’s not a slogan. It’s a shared experience.
And how do you build that?
At TOTEM Branding, we don’t “create cultures” for our clients.
We help them discover them. We help them recognize what’s already there and give it a structure that allows them to grow without getting lost.
And almost always, it requires aligning the emotional with the strategic.
Because you can’t lead from incoherence.
And you can’t transform what you haven’t understood.
What happens when an organization achieves this?
We share three real-life cases that demonstrate this more clearly than any theoretical framework:
1. A foundation in Spain
We discovered that its value wasn’t just in “helping,” but in generating networks of dignity, possibility, and autonomy.
Redefining their purpose based on that truth not only reenergized them but also generated a new narrative that brought clarity and a more defined direction.
2. The island of Mallorca
The challenge was to create a shared cultural identity that honors local authenticity and projects a sustainable vision.
We worked with key institutions and stakeholders to design this common narrative, building a strategy that bridges the gap between people who value and enjoy the island.
3. A new airline
Its goal is not to be the highest-grossing airline or the one with the most routes. But rather to restore the dignity and pleasure of flying to travelers.
This required a change of approach from the outset, to generate a positioning that could differentiate it from the rest and a purpose that would guide decisions based on its values.
None of these organizations changed their culture. They rediscovered it. And they turned it into a tangible experience.
Culture is the strategic soul of an organization.
It’s not about being perfect. It’s about being authentic.
