TBWA\: Stay AnchoredTBWA’s wellness rooms felt so sterile that the people who needed them stayed away. Andrielle and I created Stay Anchored, the pirate-flavored idea that made staying grounded part of the culture.
HAve you ever been overwhelmed at work?
Staying anchored might help.
My Role
Co-creator of the concept and art director
Team
Andrielle Giscombe
Destiny Washington
Credits
Concept: Destiny & Andirlelle
TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, Young Bloods Mental Health Hackathon
Associate Copywriter: Andrielle Giscombe
Associate Art Director: Destiny Washington
Client
TBWA\Chiat\Day New York (internal)
Dates
Fall 2023
Type of Project
Agency fellowship project: YoungBloods Mental Health Hackathon
The brief
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The wellness rooms were sterile and unwelcoming, so people who needed them avoided them.
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With Andrielle Giscombe, created Stay Anchored, tied to TBWA's pirate mascot. It won, and we built it out with the other YoungBloods.
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The concept won. Wellness rooms revamped and used for two quarters.
“Just as an anchor drops into the sea, this initiative empowers us to anchor ourselves in mindfulness.”
Challenge
Chiat challenged the YoungBloods to create collective change around mental health at work. TBWA's wellness rooms weren't invoking wellness: HR told us that staff who were breastfeeding, anxious or in need of privacy found them sterile and uninviting. The people they served were working-age white-collar professionals in advertising, roughly 25 to 55, about 200 to 300 of them across the agency.
Insight
Mental health is usually treated as an individual fight, but the pressure at an agency is collective. TBWA's mascot is a pirate, and an anchor does two jobs there: it nods to the pirate theme and it means staying grounded.
Idea & System
Andrielle Giscombe, my copywriting partner, and I created the concept, Stay Anchored. It won, and we then developed it with the other YoungBloods, with me doing much of the design alongside fellow YoungBlood [name]. It works on three levels. Individually: an open-status emoji policy so people can share their mental state, and mindful-reminder notifications that prompt a ten-minute break. As an agency: revamped mental wellness rooms, monthly art therapy, weekly wellness walks and a quarterly day off. As an industry: a World Mental Health Day LinkedIn post, a downloadable wellness toolkit and a pirate's pledge.
RESULTS
People the rooms served.
200-300
1
Quarters of revamped wellness rooms.
two
2
Levels: individual, agency, industry.