The problem:
The second Monday of January is widely regarded as one of the most depressing days of the year, but we wanted to celebrate it with some uplifting stories and share them with everyone in the company.

So how do we do that?

The solution:
Back in October of 2019, Annette King, our then Publicis Groupe CEO, gifted everyone in the company a day off to do something for themselves to aid with their mental well-being. It could be anything you liked, as long as you took the time to do something for yourself, relax, and re-charge.

We gave our staff a month-long window in which to take their day on a use-it-or-lose-it basis, and then surveyed everyone who took part to select a cross-section of stories that we could then use and share in an idea we had for an interactive exhibition.

From the interviews we went on to create unique audio experiences around each one, embedding them into physical objects that were relevant to each individual story. An iron, a cuddly toy, a 1970's hairdryer, even a motor cycle helmet, a pillow and a German stein beer mug, amonst others, which activated when you lifted the lid with your thumb.

We recorded stories of individuals meeting their parents to do some Christmas shopping, one went on a motorcycle track day, and another took the time to catch up on ironing so she could spend more time with her kids at the weekend. We even did one from a dog's perspective going for a walk on the beach with its owners!

The result:
A trully memorable interactive exhibition that not only showcased this brilliant initiative across the Groupe, but one that also demonstrated the sheer power of creativity in an engineering, innovation and technology focussed company whilst celebrating our wonderful people as well. We were certainly innovative with this one.

The exhibition was so much fun to create and make with my creative partner Steve Boswell, aka Boz.