Unified 300 employees across 19 countries

When Acadia, a digital marketing agency, acquired Bobsled Marketing in 2022, they inherited something unexpected: a peer recognition platform called HeyTaco. They could have swapped it out. Instead, they made it the foundation of a unified company culture — across 300 employees in 19 countries.

A merger, a lunch, and a lot of tacos

Acadia's People Team didn't just roll out HeyTaco with a Slack message. They threw a taco-themed company lunch, handed out taco plush pillows as awards, and ran a live peer recognition demo right there at the table. The result was immediate.

That launch set the tone for everything that followed: recognition at Acadia wouldn't be a checkbox or a quarterly event. It would be part of how the team actually works together, every day.

Recognition tied to what actually matters

Acadia connected tacos to their four core values — Community, Candor, Can-do, and Curiosity — using Taco Tags. Every taco sent is a small signal of which values are alive on the team. It turns peer recognition from a feel-good moment into something that reinforces what the company actually stands for.

TiAnna personally introduces every new hire to the Wall of Fame, emoji shortcuts, and sticker rewards during onboarding. Recognition isn't something people stumble into at Acadia — it's part of how you get started.

Rituals that keep it going

Each month at all-hands, Acadia spotlights the "Taco Champion" — complete with their photo, taco level, and recognition highlights. It's a small ritual that carries real weight: being seen by the whole company for how you show up, not just what you ship.

And the competitive side? It works. Top givers and receivers get recognized, and some employees send tacos on weekends — not because they have to, but because the habit sticks.

Rewards that go beyond gift cards

Acadia leans into the Taco Shop donation feature, using it to support causes their team actually cares about — a Serbian child's epilepsy treatment, virtual food drives, contributions to the UN World Food Program. Recognition becomes generosity.

What it means for a distributed team

With employees spread across 19 countries, the small moments of appreciation that happen naturally in an office just don't exist. HeyTaco fills that gap — not with a workaround, but with something that feels genuinely human.