An innovator reinvents workplace mental health care.
An internal campaign fights stigma with peer-to-peer support and company-wide engagement.
Services
- Brand Strategy
- Visual Identity
- Workplace Behavior
- Employee Engagement
- Messaging Platform
- Corporate Narrative
- Copywriting
- Go-To-Market Strategy
- Advertising
- Website Design
- Collateral Design
- Brand Guidelines
- Language Guidelines
Facebook lives and breathes innovation. When it turned its attention to workplace mental health, it was clear conventional approaches weren’t enough.
Facebook cultivates an inclusive work culture that aligns with its mission of making the world more open and connected. But research showed that employees with mental health concerns tended to hide them. They do not want to be seen as different. They are also worried about potential career impact.
And while employees love Facebook for the challenge and intensity, sometimes they needed help finding balance.
So, the communications challenge was both perceptual and behavioral. Facebook wanted its people to engage in new programs, but first it needed to communicate a culture of openness around mental health. It needed a workplace campaign promoting peer-to-peer support, story sharing and education. It needed to persuade its global workforce that it was time to open up around mental health.
What We Learned Along the Way
Leaders move fast.
Working with tech leaders means working smart, lean and lightning fast. Across the organization, strategy, creative, project management and production can find a new rhythm that harnesses this momentum without skipping a beat.
Sensitive topics require special handling.
Vulnerability and the workplace are not natural allies. Communicating about highly sensitive, personal topics isn’t business as usual: it requires deep listening, careful language exploration and cross-functional collaboration to get it right. Both the brain and heart must be fully engaged.
Symbolism says more.
With a topic of profound emotional complexity, it might be easy to overthink the creative expression. But a simple, powerful image, especially one that works cross-culturally, can elevate communications in a way that is impactful, intuitive and globally relevant.
Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, FacebookI don’t know anyone who has been handed only roses. We all encounter hardships. The question is: When these things happen, what do we do next?”
Inspiring openness around mental health.
From the font to the gently washed background, the OpenUp visual identity represents the transformation toward wellness. A feeling of calm is reinforced by the friendly font and the airy spacing of the letters, as well as the open box.
Worldwide butterflies for a global campaign.
The OpenUp butterflies symbolized transformation in mental health, but they also represented the diversity of Facebook’s global workforce. We researched hundreds of butterflies across the globe to find the right combination for a beautiful, colorful and diverse swarm.
Branding Facebook’s environment across the globe.
At 80 campuses in 35 countries, from Menlo Park to Dublin to Singapore, OpenUp generated awareness and engagement among Facebook employees via a multi-channel strategy that included wall installations, posters, signage, jumbotrons and wall monitors.
Creating engagement and a safe space online.
It was important to create a safe space digitally as well as physically for people to talk about mental health. Banners helped drive engagement, while an OpenUp filter was used by employees to show their support for the program and further destigmatize mental health.
Experience that Works
Talk to everybody. That means EVERYBODY.
Great strategies are simple, but there can be a lot of complexity to work through to get there. We conducted deep listening with people the world over, from employee activists to clinicians to facilities managers, creating a campaign that clicked.
When assumptions provewrong, embrace the pivot.
Early research brought up questions about the initial approach. With our clients, we immediately shifted gears in a way that affected every aspect of the campaign.
Diverse stakeholders make collaboration extra critical.
With 25 people around the table, from HR to clinical psychology to user experience, our exploratory workshop yielded both multi-faceted insights and full team alignment.
Creative that’s strategy-infused works harder.
A clear and powerful brand strategy paid off in unusual creative synergies. Interplay between the logo (an open box) and visuals (butterflies) supported the creative idea of openness and transformation.
Recent Work
Bringing a people-centered brand into a digital-first, product-led future.
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