Amid increasing change and competition across the automotive industry, HARMAN was looking for a creative way to energize its employees as the organization evolved from tier one supplier to true technology innovator. HARMAN approached Archetype, its long-time external communications partner, with a remit to help them overhaul their internal communications as they made the shift to become a more agile and adaptable organization.

Archetype dove in, working closely with internal stakeholders to build on the work they’d done identifying and refining new cultural values. The team developed an extensive communications strategy focused on establishing and reinforcing these values alongside the company’s new mission and vision. Emphasizing cross-channel messaging and symmetrical communication helped drive early awareness and engagement, but these initial efforts only served as a preamble to what came next.

Within a year, the communications initiative had evolved as senior leadership and HARMAN’s internal Culture team got behind the project and adopted it as true partners. The amplified program–now known as DRIVE OUR CULTURE–took off with these key stakeholders as catalysts. To encourage employees to embody HARMAN’s new values, Archetype branded them as superpowers and created visual identities for each, ultimately bringing them to life as heroes in an ongoing comic book series. Each comic–from story sourcing to storyboard & design–was created by Archetype. Issues focused on recent customer stories that highlighted how disparate teams across the organization worked together, and a “series bible” set guidelines to ensure consistency in tone and approach. Among the series rules, none was more important the first and central tenet–the superheroes featured in the comics can aid and observe, but HARMAN employees are always the protagonists of the story.

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Since its inception, the team has produced multiple comic volumes celebrating employee achievement, and the response has galvanized the organization’s change efforts. Awareness and adoption of DRIVE OUR CULTURE has not only increased, but it’s spreading faster than ever. A quarterly pulse check surveying employees early in the year showed almost 70% awareness of the superpowers, and 65% of respondents having medium to strong perceptions of the superpowers being lived today within their teams. Just two months later, survey participation had more than doubled, with a minimum 10% jump in every metric. Today, the superpowers have 96% awareness, with more than 80% of respondents seeing them embodied in their daily work, and 70% reporting their leaders actively create an environment that supports them.

But the impact goes beyond metrics. Much of the momentum for HARMAN’s superpowers has been generated locally and organically. The comics have inspired a team in China to create life-size cardboard cutouts of the superheroes, and HARMAN Mexico to hire actors to portray the superheroes in person, as well as office decor and fan art across HARMAN locations around the globe. With more issues planned, a monthly newsletter that receives more than 150K average opens, a recognition program highlighting real-life HARMAN superheroes, and more spinoff initiatives in the works, the superpowers have become an integral part of the culture at HARMAN, and are pushing the company forward as it embraces the agile, innovative identity their values embody.