Inside Wolff Olins: Aaron Smith on culture and experience

Hey Aaron! Can you tell us a little bit about your role at Wolff Olins and the types of projects you’ve worked on?

I’m a Global Principal in strategy practice, based out of Chicago. Since joining Wolff Olins about 2.5 years ago, I’ve had the privilege of working with amazing clients like Allspring Global Investments, United Airlines, and Kenvue. Much like others at Wolff Olins, I’ve tended to work predominantly with clients going through big moments of inflection and help them through a journey from strategy and identity all the way through to implementation and cultural change.

How do you define culture in the world of branding? 

I think of culture as the heartbeat of the company - the way work gets done and what it’s like to work at a company. It’s the experience, the interactions, the tangible and intangible ways companies embody what they stand for.

In your opinion, how does an organisation’s brand shape and empower its culture?

Brand serves as the foundation for any strong culture. Brand defines the “why” a company exists and “what” it hopes to accomplish. Culture is more “how” the brand aspirations get achieved through a company’s workforce. Culture has a symbiotic relationship with brands.

The right culture brings a company’s brand to life. The right brand attracts the right talent into the organisation, which shapes the culture. Companies that align and integrate their culture and brand, create a powerful engine of competitive advantage and growth.

How does culture tangibly come to life across a business, internally and externally?

Culture sets the stage for the total experience. It influences the way in which companies operate, how employees treat one another, and in return, how they behave to create the customer experience. I think the way culture ultimately comes to life is by making things inspiring so employees buy in, providing a set of tools not rules, and reinforcing positive behaviours that can help to create internal visibility and  traction. 

Can you tell us about a time when you have shaped and embedded this across brand touch-points - what were the challenges? 

The challenge with culture is that it’s an ambiguous term. Companies often struggle with how to take a brand and culture strategy and make it real for employees. Strategic elements like purpose and values (or beliefs for many companies) are a start, but likely don’t go far enough. 

For many companies (particularly those in the services industry), a deeper playbook is required to articulate how a company’s strategy should come to life and what it means for the customer experience. For both a retail and airline client that I’ve worked with, this meant developing a service ethos to set the vision for the customer experience and guide employee behaviours. The key with tools like these are to provide guidance, not dictate specific interactions, as the latter runs the risk of feeling overly scripted and inauthentic.   

What is an example of an organisation you admire for its commitment to culture, and why?

I’ve always admired what Nike has done from a culture perspective. I find their purpose of “bringing inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world very inspiring. To help employees deliver on this, Nike created a culture and workplace environment that encourages inclusivity, inspiration, getting into the athlete mindset, and experimentation. 

What key trends do you predict might influence culture in 2023 and beyond?

- Renewed focus on culture – with the traditional workday (and work week) gone, I think more and more companies are facing a very different corporate environment, set of rules and ways of working, than they were before. Finding ways for employees to collaborate and connect with others and the organization will be increasingly important as companies look to manage increasingly hybrid workforces.  

- Continued focus on shared values – workers from all generations, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, will continue to seek out employers with a strong set of values and ones that align with their own personal beliefs. Factors like the environment and social equity will continue to be top of mind.   

- Value of time – while we seem to be in a bit of power struggle at the moment between employer and employee as companies look to determine what the future of work will look like, I believe we will continue to see employees seek out employers that value their time, desire for flexible work arrangements, work life balance and personal wellbeing. Companies that prioritise these will win the war for talent.