Excellence in Social Media Strategy

Summary of work

Small Talk Saves Lives is a suicide prevention campaign developed for Samaritans working in partnership with Network Rail, British Transport Police and the wider rail industry.

At the heart of the campaign is a compelling piece of social content, a social media film designed to engage and be shared. The strength of the campaign lies in its authenticity. The film tells a real story, and every aspect was developed and shaped by experts, people with experience of suicidal thoughts and those bereaved by suicide.

In just two months, it has been viewed over 5 million times. A total of 16.2 million people have been reached via Samaritans, Network Rail and British Transport Police social media channels alone and the film has been shared over 65,000 times across Facebook and Twitter. It has sparked 300,000 comments and reactions online and increased social traffic to the Samaritans website by 406%.

Importantly, the post-campaign launch research has also shown impressive results versus the objectives, with a noticeable shift in awareness, understanding, knowledge and intent.

Judges' comments

Samaritans and Pegasus have put together a really strong campaign, especially the social media and its use of influencers and generating user-generated content. An example of great practice in social media and of time taken to gather meaningful insights.