Colbe launches bold new campaign 'Make work move you'

A year after Colbe launched as the European network of specialists in wellbeing at work, it's time to bring the name, and the thinking behind it, to a wider audience. Colbe helps people feel good, and keep feeling good, at work. With the campaign Make work move you, Colbe gives its movement physical form. At the heart of this is a short film, built around a dance performance, that turns the change Colbe began last year into something you can see and feel. To bring it to life, Colbe worked with choreographer Emma Evelein, director Timo Ottevanger and composer Joshua Petit. The campaign is a co-production with Amsterdam-based production and direction agency 10/10. 

For Colbe, work is about more than income or job title. It's an important part of wellbeing. And that's not only about ‘enjoying what you do.’ It's about what work can mean when it truly moves you, and sets you in motion. 

The energy of movement 

For Colbe, director Timo Ottevanger — known for Bad Influencer, Oorlog-stories and De Sterfshow, and for commercials including Air France KLM Cargo and the Red Cross — assembled a top team: choreographer Emma Evelein and composer Joshua Petit. Evelein (Golden Calf winner and known for her choreography of ‘C’est La Vie’ by the singer Claude) created a piece for a group of six dancers. The dance captures the energy that movement creates, and shows what becomes possible when individuals work together. Evelein: “The dancers start out separately, but soon begin to follow one another. They look at each other, and find each other. They discover they can literally lean on and support each other. It’s a familiar dynamic: as a choreographer, I do my best work when I feel I can trust the people around me.” The video of the dance is the heart of the Make work move you campaign. 

A bold choice 

Timo Ottevanger: “What a unique concept this is. As a director, I’m mostly used to working with actors. Working with dancers is very different. Dance says so much without using any words. Movement and expression are abstract, intangible, working more on an emotional level.” Composer Joshua Petit — co-founder of Amsterdam music agency Hear — wrote the music. He too underlines what makes this video unusual. “As a composer, I’m usually only brought in for the final phase of a project. This time I was asked to contribute right from the start. Together with our team we created a raw yet atmospheric track that we’re proud of.” 

Work and wellbeing, inseparably linked 

In the video, the expertise of the dancers, choreographer, director and composer come together in a striking dynamic. And two themes close to Colbe come to the fore: movement and the power of the collective. Colbe, which grew out of Zorg van de Zaak Netwerk last year, believes that work and wellbeing are inseparably linked. Yet the ways we approach them today often do not fit that reality. Bas Tomassen, CEO of Colbe: “Work takes up a large part of our lives. That’s precisely why it matters so much that people feel their work is meaningful — that they feel connected to those around them and have room to grow. Because when that’s in place, something starts to move. Not just in the individual, but through the whole team and organisation. That’s what we call collective betterment: strengthening each other, growing together, and achieving more than any of us could alone. That’s exactly the power you see in Emma’s choreography.” 

Colbe as a connector 

Colbe stands for Collective Betterment. We support organisations in raising wellbeing at work and guiding employees through important moments in their lives and careers. This is how people and organisations can thrive — and how we build a future-proof society. As the largest work wellbeing network in the Netherlands, Colbe brings together more than 2,000 specialists in work and wellbeing: from occupational doctors and psychologists to career advisors and management consultants. By combining expertise, technology and data in an integrated approach, we create measurable impact for more than 65,000 employers and around 1.3 million employees. 

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