Selected employer brand work
Culture Made Visible
Showmax - Leadership Narrative: Marc Jury (then CEO)
The challenge Most CEO videos are stiff, corporate, and tell a candidate nothing real. The opportunity was to show the human being behind the title, because people don't join companies, they join people, and they rarely get to see who's actually leading them.
The insight The things that make a leader worth following are never the vision statements. They're the small, human details, the stuff that makes someone feel like a person you'd actually want to work for.
What we did Produced end to end: concept, direction, and edit. We built a warm, personal portrait of Marc: his kids, his golf, cooking for his daughter's birthday, right down to his weakness for Nik Naks Chips, which we put on screen.
What it achieved Internally, it turned a distant figure at the top of the org chart into someone employees recognised and related to. Externally, it gave candidates a real sense of who they'd be working for, one of the most decisive factors in whether someone accepts an offer.
ABSA / Expresso - "Untold Stories" (Women's Month)
The challenge Expresso, South Africa's biggest morning show, had a remarkable truth living inside it every day, and the outside world couldn't see any of it. The brief, for ABSA's Untold Stories campaign, was to bring that hidden reality to the surface.
The insight The most powerful culture story wasn't on screen, it was behind it. Every department, social media, technical direction, post-production, was led by a woman, at a company that's itself woman-owned. That truth was lived daily but completely invisible externally.
What we did Produced end to end: concept, scripting, shooting, and edit. We gave voice to the people who make the show happen but never appear on camera, turning an internal reality into a story the public could feel. It aired on Expresso during Women's Month.
What it achieved It made an invisible truth visible: celebrating the women leading the show to the audience who'd never have known, and giving future talent a real, felt sense of what kind of place this is to work.
Showmax - "What Do You Love About Working Here?" (Employee Voices)
The challenge Candidates trust other employees far more than they trust anything a company says about itself. The challenge was to capture that trust honestly, without it tipping into the polished, scripted testimonial that everyone sees through.
The insight The most credible employer brand asset is often the simplest. Real people, talking honestly, with no gloss, because the moment it feels performed, it stops working.
What we did Produced end to end: concept, scripting, shooting, and edit. We asked Showmax employees one question: what do you love about working here? - and cut their answers so one flows straight into the next, building a single honest chorus rather than a corporate montage.
What it achieved Internally, it reminded the team what they value about being there. Externally, it let candidates hear, unfiltered, what it's actually like to work at Showmax, the kind of proof no company claim can buy.
Multichoice - Employee of the Year (Recognition Storytelling)
The challenge Most recognition moments stay internal: a certificate, an award, a quick post, and then disappear. The challenge was to take a single recognition moment and make it work much harder than a one-day announcement.
The insight Recognition isn't just morale. When it's positioned deliberately, it becomes employer brand equity, and in competitive markets, these small moments compound into how people perceive you.
What we did Produced end to end: concept, scripting, shooting, and edit. Instead of treating Employee of the Year as an internal formality, we built it as a deliberate employer brand asset, shaping the recognition into a story that worked both inside the company and out in the talent market.
What it achieved Internally, it strengthened pride and reinforced what the company values. Externally, it positioned Showmax clearly in the talent market and drove real engagement on LinkedIn.
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If your culture is stronger on the inside than it looks from the outside, that's exactly the gap I work in.
Thabiso Ngcobo · Founder, Culthos · culthos.com
See more of Thabiso Ngcobo’s film and television work: thabisongcobo.com