We live in a world where optimum wellness seems to always be at our fingertips – our stores stock superfoods from every corner of the earth, our phones know whether or not we hit our REM cycle, our science moves lightning fast, always bringing better methods, fresher insights, and newer technology. However, for all the tools we have, wellness can still feel unreachable, like a closed system that requires a complex access code. But sometimes, all it takes to achieve true wellness is one small shift.
We partnered with Sensei, an emerging player in the wellness and luxury hospitality space, to tell the story of their founding philosophy – that holistic wellbeing can be simple. Founded by Larry Ellison, technology pioneer and co-founder of Oracle, and Dr. David Agus, a world-renowned physician and author, Sensei unites science-based practices and innovative technology with the power of human intention. Underpinning their brand is the notion that wellness comes down to three simple, accessible pillars: Movement, Nourishment, and Rest.
When Sensei approached Revery, they had already built the cornerstones of their brand, but hadn’t yet had a proper brand launch or resonant brand moment: they had opened their first property right before the pandemic hit, then immediately scaled back, putting their marketing on hold for over a year. Now, Sensei wanted to take this moment post-pandemic to re-open their doors, and communicate who they are: a truly unique player in the wellness space, one that is at once rigorously scientific, holistically interconnected, and deeply human.
Together, we sought to elevate Sensei’s brand above the generic spa tropes, creating an aesthetic and narrative that would help Sensei differentiate in a saturated industry. Our goal was not only to unite Sensei’s balance of hard data with the more intangible expressions of intention and connection, but to capture the expansiveness of the Sensei experience.
Over the course of a summer, our Revery team built a storytelling platform that could scale alongside Sensei’s brand as they rolled out more properties and more experiences. We set foundational strategy at the front end, considering their customer journey, the brand tone and voice, and the philosophy that shone through every touchpoint – that the journey to lasting wellness was as simple as shifting your path.
The result of our efforts was sharpened brand messaging, a brand new visual center, and a hero film showcasing their Optimal Wellbeing Program, including a series of versatile cutdowns. We provided end-to-end creative production services, shooting our content in Palm Springs and Lānaʿi. Creatively and production-wise, this content was an exciting challenge. With one location that was both open for business and still being built, our production team and camera crew had to be nimble and quick on their feet, timing against windows of light, guest schedules, and construction. And, with two brand founders who were world-class experts in their respective fields, we were tasked with communicating Sensei’s commitment to science and tech-based methods while keeping our storytelling clear and accessible. Our goal was to humanize wellness, to capture Sensei’s high-power approach while simultaneously bringing it back down to earth.
Perhaps the most important creative pillar we relied on, from start to finish, was the idea of connection: our connection to other humans, our connection to the earth, and our connection to ourselves. Sensei wanted to highlight that this would be a guided experience – that no wellness seeker that came to Sensei would have to go at it alone. Even nature became like a cast member that played a starring role in our film, mirroring back the ecosystem of the human body, the remarkable network of human relationships, and the sense that life is always growing, evolving, and moving forward.