John Deere approached us with a brief to redefine how it presents itself to current and future talent. As a globally known brand with a broad footprint and highly specialised talent needs, the challenge was to develop a modern EVP that connects across cultures, regions and job types while still celebrating the company’s heritage and purpose.
I worked as a lead strategist on this large-scale, multi-region programme. My role included deep immersion into internal brand and culture materials, shaping the global research design, leading on-site fieldwork across several countries, conducting employee and leadership interviews, identifying insight themes, and developing the strategic territories and EVP direction. I also created personas to support global–local talent targeting and ensured the EVP aligned with John Deere’s Workplace Experience culture and long-term talent strategy.
This was a complex global project spanning multiple regions, seniority levels and job families. John Deere operates in more than 100 locations across the world, with distinct cultures, labour markets and organisational structures. The scale required a phased research approach: remote interviews for hard-to-reach sites, followed by extensive in-person immersions in key markets. Two strategists led the work, dividing responsibilities across regions to manage the volume of research. Timing was tight due to travel logistics, factory schedules and the need to build discussion guides informed by internal documents. The EVP also had to integrate with upcoming creative production timelines, influencing decisions ahead of a March 2026 shoot.
Our work needed to reflect the diversity of John Deere’s workforce and talent ambitions:
Spanning Mexico, Brazil, India, Europe and other global markets, each with distinct challenges and cultural norms.
Essential in understanding the future direction, cultural expectations and organisational ambitions.
Crucial for John Deere’s long-term competitiveness and innovation.
Including engineering, IT, supply management and product development roles.
The project began with a full immersion phase. For a month, we analysed hundreds of pages of branding, culture, internal comms and HR materials to understand the existing narrative and identify gaps. This allowed us to map where the current story resonated and where new insight would be essential.
Next, we examined John Deere’s global regions (India and APAC, Europe, Brazil and Mexico, the US, Australia and more) to understand cultural differences and talent realities. These insights shaped our research design and helped us tailor discussion guides to each region.
Once opportunities and gaps were agreed with the client, we moved into fieldwork. Because of the project’s scale, we split responsibilities across regions and formats. We began by interviewing and hosting focus groups online across hard-to-reach markets via Microsoft Teams. Then we travelled to key regions for deeper immersion.
I personally led, hosted and conducted:
• 35 focus groups (10 remote, 25 in person across Mexico and Brazil)
• 12 senior leadership interviews
• 4 factory visits
• 3 HQ office immersions
This gave us a 360° understanding of John Deere’s lived culture, what inspires people, what challenges them, what they feel proud of, and what they hope the company will stand for.
After a full summer of research, we synthesised the insights into strategic territories and an overarching positioning. The chosen direction was expanded into a full EVP ecosystem: manifestos, messaging pillars, objectives, cultural integration guidance and alignment with the Workplace Experience culture.
I also developed audience personas so that regions can activate the EVP through targeted, locally relevant employer brand campaigns worldwide.
We are now in the final creative development phase, with concepts being refined ahead of filming and production scheduled for March 2026.
This project is currently ongoing. However, early outcomes are already shaping the organisation:
Clear personas to guide regional targeting
A unified strategic narrative that connects factory teams, corporate roles and niche talent across regions
A creative direction now entering final sign-off, with production planned for early 2026More results will be added as the project progresses