When brand and content agency Rationale set out to build a purpose-driven workplace, they knew culture couldn’t just be a buzzword. It had to be felt and lived by everyone at the company. To achieve this, they knew they had to put their people’s wellbeing at the centre of their strategy.The founders of Rationale, Rowan Morrison and Svein Clouston, know first-hand the toxic practices and resultant burnout that’s prevalent in typical agency cultures and wanted to ensure they were building a people-first business.Over time, as they grew from a four-person team to more than 20, Rationale chose YuLife to help them create daily habits that would make wellbeing part of the everyday culture of their brand. So, in July of 2021, alongside achieving B Corp status, Rationale further invested in its positive team culture by onboarding YuLife. Since then, the results speak for themselves: a 100% download rate of the YuLife app, an 84% all-time average engagement rate, and over 12,000 wellbeing challenges completed by their team since the partnership began in 2021.We spoke with Rowan and Svein about Rationale’s successes in becoming a 2024 certified "Great Place to Work", its approach to team wellbeing, and how the company has consistently generated client appreciation over the last five years.The Challenge: growing a people-first business while safeguarding wellbeingLike many fast-growing agencies, Rationale faced the balancing act of scaling their business while staying true to their founding values. Brand and content agency, Rationale, launched in 2019 with an aim to do things differently. Front and centre of the Edinburgh-based company’s brand purpose is creating a positive impact – not only for its clients, but also for communities, the planet, and, most importantly, its team."One of the challenges of being a leader in a business is having to work on the business as well as in the business," says co-managing director Svein Clouston. "And balancing that with bringing in the money to grow the agency while also maintaining an eye on the wellbeing, physical and mental, of your staff."When they launched Rationale, Rowan and Svein wanted to prevent the common issues many agencies face including poor staff benefits, toxic working cultures and employee burnout. Rowan and Svein had already experienced these volatile agency environments and wanted to avoid replicating them at Rationale, which inspired their intense people-focused approach. Burnout in particular is a growing problem in marketing and advertising agencies, which experience an average burnout rate of 69%, with causes ranging from high client demand to siloed working practices. With ambitions to become a B Corp and attract the top talent in a competitive hiring market, Rationale needed a wellbeing solution that would embed healthy habits, connect their people, and signal to clients and candidates alike that this is a workplace that puts its values into action.To achieve this, they wanted to offer staff benefits that truly aligned with their vision and their goal of building a sustainable, healthy working environment. However, they couldn’t quite find a traditional Life Insurance offering that aligned with this approach. This is where YuLife came in. The Solution: a wellbeing tool their team actually wanted to useRationale introduced YuLife when the agency was just four people. Today, they’re a team of 22, and engagement with the YuLife app has only grown. The team has embraced YuLife as a natural extension of their culture.“When people get onboarded, everyone’s like ‘Oh, add Matthew to the YuLife league table,’” Clouston says. “It’s been a vehicle for teamwork, a vehicle for people to get to know each other.”Co-founder Rowan adds that YuLife felt like a kindred brand. “We felt that YuLife at that time felt like a startup like us, very similar in values and tone.”YuLife’s Life Insurance offering also complemented the other health and wellbeing benefits Rationale offered their team, rounding out a holistic and supportive package.“We do lots of things for mental and physical wellbeing that appeal to everybody in the agency,” Rowan says. “And YuLife — the Life Insurance and the associated app — feels meaningful in the spectrum of the package we offer.”YuLife’s gamified approach has driven meaningful action, encouraging employees to walk more, meditate, take on daily challenges, and compete in friendly ways. “It supports them with teamwork, being healthy, interacting, having fun… everyone would be gutted if we took it away,” Clouston says.Rationale also sends out a weekly satisfaction survey, with a goal of scoring 8.5 or above out of 10. The leadership team monitors these scores closely, addressing any drop in morale or engagement.Rowan strongly feels this approach to building their culture, complemented by the benefits offered by YuLife, has directly impacted the success of their business. “We can draw a straight line between our ethos and our culture and great outcomes for our clients. Definitely.”This alignment has helped YuLife become part of the everyday rhythm at Rationale, not as a top-down policy, but as a shared practice.YuLife’s gamified approach has driven meaningful action, encouraging employees to walk more, meditate, take on daily challenges, and compete in friendly ways. “It supports them with teamwork, being healthy, interacting, having fun… everyone would be gutted if we took it away,” Svein says.The Results: culture you can measure The stats say it all. Rationale has consistently maintained a 100% download rate since the partnership began. All-time average monthly active user (MAU) engagement is 84%, with even higher recent averages: 88% in 2024 and 94% in 2025 to date. Since July 2021, the team has completed over 12,000 wellbeing challenges, including more than 7,800 since the start of 2024 alone.The YuLife app has become more than just a benefits add-on. "It’s just part of the fabric of who we are now," Morrison says. Whether it’s leaderboard banter or daily mindfulness rituals, YuLife has helped Rationale build a consistent and energising sense of connection and self-care within its team.Since implementing YuLife in July 2021, Rationale has also seen a positive impact on the overall culture of their workplace. “YuLife is, of all the benefits, the one that the team talks about the most,” she confirms. “And it's not really to do with the Life Insurance! We're an active bunch, so we all want to up our step count — and friendly competition in the office means we're all obsessed with the leaderboards.”Aside from the internal impact YuLife has had on the Rationale team, they’ve also made huge strides towards living out their mission of making a positive impact, by donating significantly to ESG initiatives through the YuLife employee app. The Big Picture: a new standard for creative agenciesIn the world of brand and creative work, long hours and last-minute deadlines can often be the norm. But Rationale is showing there’s another way: one where productivity and wellbeing go hand-in-hand.By embedding YuLife into its culture, Rationale has not only improved day-to-day employee wellbeing, but also strengthened its position as a progressive, people-first employer. “YuLife is an enabler for our culture,” Svein says. “It’s a tool that helps our team actively engage in our culture. It supports them with teamwork, being healthy, interacting, and having fun.” And in doing so, it’s helped Rationale lead by example, not just for their team but for the brands they build.How YuLifers at Rationale spend their YuCoin With YuLife being a fellow certified B Corp, Rationale is able to fully align its insurance offerings with its own B Corp goals and take a unique approach to building an agency that bucks toxic workplace trends and beats burnout. The impact of YuLife on the Rationale team has not only benefited the community at large but also their sense of community within the organisation. The app has brought the team together through friendly competition and camaraderie and given them something to bond over that isn’t work-related. Ultimately, Rowan says, this creates a sense of community within their company culture, something that’s vastly important when it comes to competing for top talent. After all, company culture is something 90% of professionals have looked into before accepting a role.“YuLife has genuinely made a positive impact on our health and wellbeing as a business,” Rowan concludes. “And it's fun as well — it's something we all laugh about and tease each other about. It’s a way we can engage as a team through a game.”Sustaining successWith Rationale’s team of 18 now in their third year using YuLife, the app has become a great source of engagement and an incredible way for the company to put people first.As Rowan notes, Rationale’s weekly employee satisfaction scores have spiked since onboarding the app — previously sitting within the mid-7s, they now sit generally between 8.3 and 8.8. Rationale and its approach are a true testament to the belief that people are a company’s biggest superpower.“You can be value-driven as a business rather than profit-driven, and still be successful,” says Rowan. “And the bigger you get as a business, the closer you need to be to that mission of supporting your team. Because the truth is — you’re nothing without your people.” About YuLife.YuLife is working to reimagine the insurance industry by protecting lives, rewarding living and inspiring life. We’re on a mission to transform traditional insurance into a life-enhancing experience each employee will value and use daily. How does it work? Our award-winning app uses behavioural science and game mechanics to reward your people for living well while offering protection in case of crisis. And with our top-rated employee assistance programme, your team gets access to mental, financial and social support, virtual GPs, nutritionists, life coaches and more to help them live their best lives.Because we believe that your employees should benefit from their insurance from day one — and that wellbeing should be accessible every day, for everyone.Request a demo for your team today.