Long seen as an “HR subject”, corporate culture returns to the forefront as soon as the organization scales up: new governance, transition to profitability, internationalization, build-up... At these times, what “held” the company together yesterday (habits, historical leaders, founding energy) is no longer enough. And one question becomes structuring: is the executive committee (COMEX) actually driving the culture… or simply enduring it?

On the occasion of a The Dots Connect co-organized with Bpifrance Le Hub, four leaders shared their experiences, from Orisha and Deezer: Alexandre Fretti (CEO, Orisha), Jérôme Zamy (CMO, Orisha), Valérie Bernard (Chief Human Resources & Sustainability Officer, Deezer), and Solène Claoué (VP Marketing, Deezer), with Jennifer Moukouma (Co-founder, The Dots) moderating.

1. The real trigger: when strategy changes, culture becomes visible

When everything is going well, culture often remains implicit: it “functions” without needing to be named. But as soon as a strategic goal becomes tougher (profitability, expansion, M&A, new governance), it gains tangibility because it conditions execution. The exchanges show: it’s not the culture that suddenly appears; it’s its lack of clarity that becomes costly.

Orisha: transitioning from a federation of SMEs… to a group

Orisha (formerly DL Software) grew for more than twenty years through acquisitions, to the point of becoming a constellation of local brands and relatively autonomous “villages”. Alexandre Fretti describes a clear starting point: when he arrived and questioned the COMEX about the culture, he got a fragmented response - “one-third told me ‘there is none’, one-third was blank, and one-third offered banalities”.
The change in ownership (a new American investor) and the ambition to double the group’s value imposed a new paradigm: becoming a group requires a common language, expected behaviors, and the ability to collaborate beyond entities.

Deezer: the IPO, or the end of an “adolescent” culture

At Deezer, the trigger is different but equally clear: the listing in July 2022 introduced a new discipline and a requirement for profitability. Valérie Bernard recounts the shift: a “creative”, highly emotional, and caring company must gain maturity, strengthen entrepreneurship, and reconnect brand, mission, and internal functioning.
In this context, culture is no longer a background: it becomes an infrastructure. Notably, because employees need to understand decisions, endure over time, and stay aligned despite pressure.

2. The brand as an accelerator: when the external serves as a pretext to rebuild the internal

At a “high level”, the same mechanism emerges in both companies: brand work becomes a moment of crystallization. Not only because it restores pride, but because it forces the answer to a foundational question: who do we want to be tomorrow?
And when the ambition is clear externally, it eventually demands internal coherence.

Orisha: rebranding as the first act of collaboration

Jérôme Zamy explains that the Orisha project is not a “logo change”: it’s an industrial task (merging about fifty brands, domains, sites, identities) completed in less than a year. “We launched a brand in 9 months”, he summarizes.

But the most cultural point lies elsewhere: the rebranding was designed as a project carried by the entire COMEX, from day one. During the European roadshow, COMEX members divided the offices into pairs to convey the “why” and establish the idea that the collective was becoming the norm.
Result: an immediate effect on internal adhesion, measured via the eNPS, which went from 80% to 94% after the launch.

Deezer: “Be & Belong” as a bridge between culture and brand platform

Deezer follows a similar logic: start from the brand platform (“Be & Belong”, around self-expression and connection) to redefine internal values. Solène Claoué explains the foundation: diversity, inclusion, music as a link — an already present DNA, but now structured.
Valérie Bernard then details the translation into four simple values to memorize: Be You, Belong, Be Curious, Be Bold, with a deliberate desire to move quickly (a more top-down approach), then anchor these values in HR programs and business actions.

3. The COMEX as an engine: exemplarity, systems, and rituals that make the culture “real”

The exchanges converge on a central idea: culture becomes effective when treated as a science as much as an art. It requires systems, rituals, and above all, non-negotiable exemplarity. Without that, it remains a PowerPoint.

Avoid “vanilla culture” and embrace rough edges

Alexandre Fretti warns against the trap of consensus: “everyone likes vanilla, but no one loves vanilla”.
For him, a useful culture is decisive. It may displease some, and that’s normal. What matters is that it guides decisions and serves as a filter, especially in recruitment: “never compromise on culture”.

Transparency and pedagogy: making decisions understandable

At Deezer, the listing reinforced a cultural imperative: transparency. Valérie Bernard states it clearly: “we need to stop babying people… they have the right to know”.
Management thus focused on financial education (PNL, churn, LTV, CAC…), through training and regular rituals. Solène Claoué explains that the leadership team has a monthly in-depth time with the COMEX to understand the “why” behind decisions and subsequently cascade the information with context.

Identifying “blind spots”: staying connected to the frontline

Beyond the big messages, several practices stand out as “anti-blind spots”:

• At Orisha: monthly breakfast with employees, monthly lunch with randomly selected staff, to capture weak signals and stay connected to the ground.

  Transcripts strategy and culture

• At Deezer: unfiltered Q&A, a monthly open hour with the CEO, and the protection of structuring cultural symbols like the Deezer Band, decided at a management level when tensions arise around the studio’s use.

  Transcripts strategy and culture

• At Orisha: establishment of a “COMEX alliance” (a sub-culture of top management functioning), with explicit rules and a “gimmick gesture” to signal when someone steps out of line, a way to correct without dramatizing.

In conclusion

This The Dots Connect reminds us of a too-often forgotten truth: culture is not what we say, it’s what gets repeated - in rituals, decisions, recruiting, transparency, and the way the COMEX behaves itself.
Orisha and Deezer show two different paths (build-up vs iconic brand, B2B vs B2C), but the same lesson: when piloted from the top and translated into concrete systems, culture becomes a strategic execution lever rather than a blind spot.