Finalist
A Social Campaign that Started Conversations about Depression Across Europe
Summary of work
Despite significant societal increases in awareness about depression, there is still one major barrier to getting the right support: starting a conversation. Knowing what to say, how and when can be daunting for people living with depression (PLWD) and their caregivers (families/support network).
In year two of the Breaking Depression campaign, we wanted to help PLWD and their caregivers across Europe get the support they need; we turned real-life insights into action with ‘The Little Book of Big Conversations’ (TLBBC). This digital book is full of insightful pieces of practical advice from those with first-hand experiences, with the aim of helping PLWD get the right support, one conversation at a time.
The TLBBC was promoted through a social media campaign. Importantly, the content leveraged the increase of dark social, where engagement is happening in private conversations like direct messages; this was particularly important given the sensitivities around discussing depression. Posts were developed to be shared or saved for later use to allow people to access advice when they were ready to start a conversation.
The campaign exceeded all KPIs by at least 10% and importantly we saw a 18% increase in the number of people wanting to start a conversation.
Judges’ comments
This campaign from Langland and Janssen took place in a challenging area and delivered a clear strategy. There was a good channel audit completed ahead of time and the outcomes were strong. It was a strong, solid piece of work around an emotive issue. A really important campaign that leveraged features of channels to allow for the most effective communication.
