The WONE way to healthy: our rebranding story
We’re so thrilled to share that after many months of work, we have launched a new look and feel for our brand. This is the story of why we decided to refine how we present ourselves to the world.
We’re taking a stand against workplace stress
Our business has always been on a mission to elevate human happiness through health at work. As we’ve expanded in the last few years, our understanding of the problem we’re tackling has evolved.
As a society, we have de-prioritised our health to be something we fix when it’s already broken, but not care for in the first place. We have normalised a culture of burnout in our workplaces, and that is leading to chronic illness. The reality is that we should have the tools in place to proactively manage our stressors before it even reaches a point of crisis.
And so, we are taking a stand. We’re calling out the glorification and normalisation of workplace stress; we’re challenging the culture of burnout and re-writing the narrative that stress means success.
We are here to solve the global stress epidemic and inspire a preventative model of health, starting with the workplace.
To solve this problem and succeed in our mission of elevating human happiness, we need to be bold and vocal. We’re leading a campaign to educate businesses on how to support their teams with compassion, in how we live our lives through better management of stress. Our brand is a reflection of our values, personality, and mission. It plays a crucial role in how our customers perceive us. And so, as our own self perception has evolved, so too has our brand.
A little more about the problem we’re trying to solve
Work-related stress is at an all time high. It is reported that work is the number one cause of stress in people’s lives in the UK, and it’s staggering to learn that nearly half of all UK workers are close to burnout. These results are staggering when you consider that we spend roughly a third of our lives at work. When employee health is not met, the health of the business suffers. It’s estimated that 57% of annual lost working days are due to stress, anxiety and depression, and this costs businesses around £42bn a year.
The pandemic and current market conditions have thrown a much needed spotlight on workplace stress. While most employers were quick to respond to the needs of their employees in early 2020, for many this initial support was just the start of something bigger. It set in motion a fundamental shift in expectations, especially amongst a younger generation, in what employer health and wellbeing support should look like. The Great Resignation marked a shift in employees’ willingness to accept working environments with poor cultures, unsustainable workloads or bad management - all major contributors to high stress. And the effect on businesses continues to be felt - with competitive hiring markets and huge costs associated with losing top talent.
When employees are engaged, healthy and happy at work, they bring their best selves to work, go above and beyond what’s required, and are committed to helping the business reach its goals. So, rather than the ‘tick box’ wellbeing benefits that serve as a plaster for unhealthy cultures, we are championing a new approach to health at work, one that is preventative, and personalised to each individual's unique needs.
Despite the growing momentum toward improving health and wellbeing at work, we’re early on this journey. The levels of stress in the modern workplace are still unsustainable. And we have a lot of work to do to collectively transform our approach to health at work. It will take all of our energy, enterprise and spirit, but we are determined.
And so, enter our new brand
We knew we needed a fresher, bolder, and more contemporary look and feel to match our evolved focus. Our new branding is more than a logo change; it’s a way to express our fierce commitment to our mission, and to the businesses, experts, and teams that we serve.
WONE is the shortened version of our name, is our new acronym, and our new logo. Our name, Walking on Earth, is inspired by a quote from Zen Master, poet and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh. The quote is a daily reminder of our mission; to help people be present, joyful and appreciate the intricate beauty of something as simple as walking on earth.
Retaining our name was important to us through the rebranding process. To truly be our authentic selves, we felt strongly that we needed to stay connected to our roots. We are values led and strong in our convictions. We are leading a transformation in how we live our lives. This means we are unafraid to be bold and vocal about the challenges in front of us, yet we will always do this from a place of kindness and compassion. Our approach blends eastern and western perspectives, presenting a more inclusive vision of health rooted in ancient wisdom and backed by modern science. We are living proof that a new model of working culture is possible and that business and people can thrive when they embrace our mission.
In staying connected to our roots, it felt right to represent our philosophy of ancient wisdom, modern science, as the basis for our new visual identity.
Cymatics is a field of science that studies the visualization of sound waves in the form of a vibrating pattern. When the vibrations of sound meet a medium such as water or sand, the pattern that emerges is a natural resonance of that energy shifting. The higher the frequency, the more intricate and complex the pattern. As humans, we are a living energy field. The cells in our bodies are constantly vibrating and creating energy, and so we can imagine how vibrations and sounds can affect our bodies on a cellular level. To see the inspiration behind the concept of resonance, watch this video.
When we think of how our own emotions fluctuate between a state of calm and stress and back again, we can visually imagine how a complex pattern may emerge, just like with Cymatics. The complexity of a stress state is offset by the peaceful image of a calm state, and this transient nature between the two is in constant flux. We have used this idea of resonance, of cymatic frequencies fluctuating, as our visual identity to represent the transient nature of our emotional states.
This, along with stunning photography of our incredible experts, and matched with our energising colour range allows our brand to display the different emotions experienced by everyone we work with. It was very important to us that our experts featured heavily in our branding as they truly are exceptional in their talent, experience and compassion.
Our new brand is now live and you can experience it across all of our platforms. We would like to thank 20something for their incredible work in making this project happen. We truly believe that this new brand reflects our purpose, our vision for the future, and demonstrates our passion for making a big difference to this world. We’re thrilled to be able to share it with you.
