As part of its unwavering commitment to supporting the health and wellness of New Zealanders, Southern Cross has partnered with Pause Breathe Smile, a proven programme to help young Kiwis develop as strong, resilient, healthy individuals.

To date, 2000 teachers across 350 schools have been introduced to this programme, and more than 60,000 children have benefited. With Southern Cross’ support, the goal is to expand the programme by removing the cost barrier that prevents more schools from accessing the programme. Pause Breathe Smile trains teachers to support the well-being of their students. The programme consists of 8 lessons focusing on specific areas helping children flourish in class by increasing calmness and attention.

Our brief was to refresh the Pause Breath Smile brand and create a visual link to Southern Cross as part of the partnership to increase awareness and raise Southern Cross’s profile and reputation as a health and wellness leader in New Zealand. The Pause Breathe Smile branding needed to be refreshed to better appeal to its audience whilst also being able to exist independently.

The design solution was playful, flexible and positive, capturing a youthful attitude with its smile and wink form wrapping around the Pause Breathe Smile word marque. The use of the Southern Cross typeface, along with the well-recognised cross-device, suggested the link to its partner.

Given the varied audiences for the materials, the look and feel needed to be able to adapt easily and create interest across marketing and programme collateral. Voice also developed a wide range of classroom literature, internal and marketing communications, and brand guidelines.

Voice lives and breathes our wider strategy to increase our profile as a health and well-being leader. Voice worked smartly and collaboratively at every step; their strategic approach, matched with outstanding creative, has helped us cut through what was a complex and layered sponsorship programme to deliver a fresh result that breathes fun and creativity into our brand.

Joanne Mahon, Chief Communications & Brand Officer at Southern Cross