Before our launch, no one had captured the actual problem; that our brains aren’t wired properly to handle several tasks at once, and that disruptions from our mobile devices do more harm than good. This escalating problem had to be addressed, together with a universal solution that decision makers, as well as employees, could adapt to achieve a healthier state working with digital communication technology. This is why we created Workfulness.

In collaboration with the prominent neuroscientist Katarina Gospic (M.D., Ph.D., and M.Sc.), this new term and method captured the core of the issue and started to create change towards building healthier, more efficient and sustainable workplaces from a digital perspective. A multi-step program turned Workfulness into a rich tool that re-empowered and helped people understand why we need to learn to use digital communication technology in a smarter way that works together with the human brain.

Workfulness launched on prime time morning television, where Katarina Gospic got several minutes of airtime speaking about the initiative in front of millions of viewers. The follow-up consisted of units created to work in different earned, bought and owned channels: a printed and digital guidebook written by Katarina Gospic for P2P-handouts; the Workfulness experiment film in social media where a real company were subjected to rigged meetings in front of hidden cameras; the world’s first print ad blocker, where a special edition of 250 copies of Sweden’s leading business newspaper with greyed out ads were delivered to 250 hand-picked business executives, and much more. We also made sure that the initiative came without any selling pitch whatsoever; the information and all assets were free of charge, available online to the public in both English and Swedish, and Workfulness could be implemented regardless if you were a Telenor customer or not.

During the launch period, new business demand went to an all-time-high and for the first time ever, potential customers started to contact the sales team at Telenor to an extent never seen before. Brand consideration among non-customers increased by 32% during the peak campaign period (source: BrandTracker). The initiative has also had over 30 million earned impressions in earned Swedish media alone – meaning that every Swede has been reached three times by the Workfulness message. And the fact that we encouraged people to disconnect actually connected Telenor to whole new target audiences; Workfulness has now become a new business offering that attracts HR departments and executive boardrooms. Consequently, we created an entirely new customer category for the company. Telenor is now beyond IT and seen as a more responsible and sustainable corporation.