Unscripted culture: why your values video isn't working (and what to do instead)

Most organizations have a values video. Very few have a culture story employees believe.

That gap is what I want to dig into in Episode 7 of Lights, Camera, Communicate. On May 19 at 12pm ET, Amer Tadayon and I are joined by Ann Melinger, CEO of bink., for a conversation called Unscripted Culture. It's free and built for practitioners who are tired of producing culture content nobody believes.

But before the episode airs, there's something worth doing first.

Ann's team just launched the Culture at Work Study, research designed to surface an honest picture of how culture actually operates inside organizations. Not the version in the all-hands deck. The version employees experience every day. It takes about 15 minutes, responses are anonymous, and you can opt in to receive early access to the findings later this year.

The survey closes May 20. Take it before you join us on May 19 and you'll come into the conversation with fresh context.

The problem with how we film culture

I've seen a lot of culture videos. Most follow the same script: upbeat music, smiling employees, a values statement delivered by a senior leader who looks slightly uncomfortable on camera. The production is clean. The message lands flat.

The reason isn't the camera work. Employees see the gap between stated culture and lived experience, and they call it out. A polished video doesn't close that gap. In some cases it widens it.

Edelman reported an unprecedented global decline in employer trust in 2025, the first drop since the study began in 1999. The same research found only 19% of associates trust their CEO to tell the truth about what's happening inside the organization, compared to 52% of executives.

Communications practitioners are working inside that reality every time they try to tell a culture story. The aspiration on the screen and the experience in the hallway are two different things, and employees know it.

What Ann brings to this conversation

Ann has written about the difference between branding culture and building it, and her argument is direct: you can't communicate your way to a culture you haven't earned. Her point about "informed inaction" should make any communications practitioner uncomfortable. Knowing the gap exists and doing nothing about it doesn't maintain the status quo. It allows the gap to widen.

We explored some of this in a previous ICology event on the hidden disconnect in workplace culture. Episode 7 takes it somewhere more specific: what does honest culture storytelling look like on camera.

Where video fits

This isn't an argument against video. Amer and I would be out of a show if it were.

Consistent storytelling around values, purpose, and shared wins helps bring culture to life. The question is whether you're filming the right moments. Giving employees space to tell their own stories is what builds trust on camera. A scripted values package doesn't do that. A real moment does.

In 2024, 61% of employees said they would leave their current job for a company with a better culture, and 74% reported feeling demotivated when working in a poor cultural fit. Communications practitioners have a real role in making culture visible. Video is one of the best tools for that. Episode 7 is about how to use it honestly.

Join us May 19

Unscripted Culture is a live conversation for communications practitioners who care about mission and values but struggle to translate them into stories employees recognize as true.

May 19. 12pm ET. Free.

Take the Culture at Work Study before you register. Then save your spot.