unmind
x connie
fractional work. 2+ years. 11/10 results
“There’s a reason we worked with Sam for over two years: he always delivered, added value and became a trusted member of the team. He knows when to push back and challenge to make the work better, and manages to do so in an empathetic, eager and collaborative way.”
Ben Shaw
(then) Global Marketing VP @ Unmind
Unmind is a workplace mental health platform that serves the likes of Samsung, Uber and the NHS
After chatting with the CEO (as part of a project for another client), we spotted Unmind’s ad for a content writer.
As a) the founder was sound, b) the startup seemed it too and, c) there’s no such thing as cheeky, we pitched for the job—only fractional, not full-time. They said yes.
So, three days a week for 2+ years, we helped Unmind write content. And, as you’ll see, so much more.
It’s why we champion fractional work. Aside from whopping savings vs. our standard day rate, working together little and often means we can get under the bonnet of your business, and make a real difference, long-term.
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The ‘Hot House’ nurture campaign we led in 2024 (see below) had a conversion rate of 70%.
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This sparked seven figures’ worth of new business opportunities for Unmind.
Put differently: every penny you spend gets repaid—and then some—in value. Cashback!
"It started off primarily as copywriting support—shortform to longform, web pages to white papers—but soon became much more strategic and conceptual. Like helping to frame the concepts and brand side of things, and marry up copy with design.
“Bringing in that level of expertise in-house would have required huge investment. But with a three-days-a-week partnership with Connie, we got the high-quality work and strategic input we needed to elevate our brand and marketing efforts."
Oliver Matejka
Head of Brand & Comms @ Unmind
tone of voice
It’s an industry that deals with issues like OCD, self-harm and suicide. Y’know, the kind of stuff you don’t joke about.
Problem is, the fear of getting brand voice wrong sees some mental health firms go to odd extremes.
Some opt for cold and clinical. Others too touchy-feely. One creates a tone that can land as uncaring, the other the wrong side of ‘woo-woo’.
Unmind was—and is—different. As part of a small band of wellbeing companies that base their work on proper evidence (just 5%, which is wild), the offer was undoubtedly A+.
But as some well-heeled big boys already existed in the sector, this made the upstart startup an underdog. And so…
Cutting through meant standing out.
Across our 2+ years together, we helped Unmind nail its tone of voice. One that mixed easy-to-digest copy with an always-upbeat air, to match its ‘positive psychology’ approach.
Robust science, with shed-loads of spirit.
Old copy
Connie copy
Old copy
Connie copy
Old copy
Connie copy
campaigns
Whether noodling on ads, writing beefy reports or crafting whole strategies, we were along for the ride on Unmind’s many campaigns.
The best example? Burnout.
Though the process (months of work crammed into a single week) won’t win awards for preventing burnout, the graft 100% paid off.
Here’s how Oliver Matejka remembers it:
“There was some big quarterly campaign that for whatever reason fell through, leaving a significant gap in the calendar and lead generation pipe off the back of it.
“In one session, you came up with an idea and quickly turned it into a full multi-channel, self-contained campaign—from the sourcing of talent to strategically finding something that was a massive trending topic, as well as a direct link to what Unmind does as a solution.
“It made for really good video, live event content and a dedicated handbook, all turned around within a week.
“The speed was great and the quality really high, so it’s a particularly good example of our work together.”
One part of the campaign—The great big burnout handbook—soon become one of Unmind’s most downloaded bits of content.
Three years on, it’s still in the all-time top three.
And that’s not all.
Other campaigns that went gangbusters include:
mental health awareness week 2022
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Spike in sign-ups, during campaign week.
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Increase in platform usage ('Nurturing Friendship' series).
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Jump in activity ('Transform Habits' tool).
2023 workplace mental health trends
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New business opportunities—in the first quarter alone.
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More sales opps, versus the previous year’s campaign.
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More website traffic, compared to 2022.
buyer journey
Another project that sticks out—for its wondrous mix of strategy, words and A+ results (and the fact it had its very own code name)—is the 2024 nurture campaign: ‘Hot House’.
Our goal, as laid out in the brief, was to “find, win and retain $1m customers.”
Getting there meant walking would-be Unmind clients through the buying process, increasing conversion rates and, ultimately, boosting revenue.
None of this comes easy, of course. Else we’d all be billionaires.
We knew that, to get people’s attention—then keep it, and make them want to buy-in—we’d need to take a big swing.
So we did.
Our pitch:
Not Safe for Work?
These days, most stories about mental health firms are bad.
In part, it's the fault of bad actors—who made bank during the pando gold rush—now exposed as cowboys due to lack of scientific rigour, privacy breaches, or internal targets to limit support.
We’re fast approaching a fresh tipping point. Companies are mulling over whether to double down on wellbeing spend, or just bin it all off.
Here, we’ll confront the sketchy PR, rogue startups and downbeat research, then prove how & why Unmind is different.
Workplace wellbeing isn't over. With the right company at your side, it remains the best, no brainer investment big orgs can make. Done right, it delivers a healthier workforce and bottom line alike.
The backlash to the backlash starts now.
how it looked
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NSFW? Part 1:
The problem with mental health apps
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NSFW? Part 2:
EAPs are broken. ESPs are the future
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NSFW? Part 3:
Can you trust your wellbeing provider?
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NSFW? Part 4:
MH leaders aren’t born, they’re trained
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NSFW? Part 5:
How wellbeing investment pays back
“We undertook a huge strategic repositioning of Unmind and we needed to recreate our strategic narrative and accompanying nurture campaign.
“Sam helped us expertly craft a powerful story, grounded in the reality of our buyer and the value of our technology.
“The results were outstanding: 70% CVR on the entire campaign and influenced 7 figures in pipeline for the business.”
Elliott King
(then) Interim VP of Brand & Marketing @ Unmind
what they said
“Just wanted to give you a massive shout out for making the copy SPARKLE AND SHINE ✨✨✨✨
Thank you so much Sam!”
“Hey Sam! Currently editing down your blogs for the ISO documents.
Honestly it is such a joy to read your writing.”
“I’ve read the article a lot, and one line always makes me smile: ‘Unmind can help you do amazing things, but our in-house scientists can’t put more hours in a day.’'”
“I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading your ‘5 ways to approach control in a crisis’ blog.
Super helpful content 😌”
“I went on holiday… the idea had just been decided.
I came back… it was done. Shooketh.”
“Thanks for spearheading this. It’s been live less than 24 hours & we’ve had 160 downloads plus a load of sweet sweet demo requests.”
“I know this isn’t exactly constructive, but I truly love what you’ve done with it. It’s very simple, very clean, and in our Unmind-y language.”
“Thanks so much for all your hard work – and for taking our copy ideas and translating them into something beautiful.”
“Epic content. Epic design. Epic turn around time.
🔥 🔥 🔥
Love your work!!”
how can we help you?
Wanna make waves?
You know, like £6 million in new business opps, a 7 in 10 conversion rate, or a 1987.5% spike in engagement?
Whether it’s a one-off project or rolling support (again, we’d strongly suggest the latter—as every penny becomes an investment, not an expense), we’re ready to help you grow.
Get in touch today, and we can show you how.