Pegasus’ suicide prevention campaign wins at Communiqué

Pegasus found themselves recipient of two trophies at this year’s Communiqué Awards, both of which were celebrating its suicide prevention initiative Small Talk Saves Lives.

The campaign - developed in partnership with Network Rail and the British Transport Police for UK-based charity Samaritans – tells the story of suicide prevention, with teams asking rail travellers to spot, report or intervene in order to help reduce the rate of suicide.

At the heart of the campaign however was a short film designed to engage the mainstream media’s attention and raise the public’s awareness about suicide.

In two months Small Talk Saves Lives had achieved 315 items of social media coverage, creating 117 million opportunities for public viewing.

It also achieved newspaper, online and broadcast coverage from the likes of BBC and Sky News which culminated to a total reach of 16.2m, simultaneously increasing traffic to the Samaritans website by 406%.

These statistics were just some of the reasons why Pegasus came out on top in the Excellence in Media Relations category.

This particular category recognises all forms of media relations programmes covering general healthcare campaigns, with entries demonstrating how its campaign achieved coverage through its chosen channels - which is what the team at Pegasus achieved according to the Communiqué judges.

They said: “This multi-faceted, well-thought out campaign was really clever and it was completely obvious that Pegasus went about and beyond in every way.

“The team’s sensitive approach along with producing fantastic insights and prolific experts really made the campaign impressive. We really loved this entry”

Pegasus was up against some tough competition in this category, beating rivals Edelman, Hanover Communications, Incisive Health and TogoRun.

However it wasn’t long before its campaign took the spotlight again, picking up another award in Excellence in Public Health Communications.

This particular award recognises initiatives that prevents disease, promotes health or prolongs life, awarding those producing work that increased public awareness while evoking a sense of responsibility for public health.

The Communiqué judges were impressed with Pegasus’ post-campaign launch statistics, which showed a noticeable shift in awareness, understanding and knowledge of suicide prevention.

They said: “Pegasus and Samaritans put together a really interesting piece of work with clear goals, showing a genuine need for the campaign.

“If we had worked for this team we would have been really proud of this work. It should be the standard used to aspire to when writing a Communiqué entry.

“The outcomes driven programme generated a meaningful response with good social metrics and a strong range of stakeholder groups.”

Meanwhile Cohn & Wolfe, FleishmannHillard Fishburn, Havas Lynx and TogoRun were recognised as finalists in this category.

Stuart Hehir, Creative Director at Pegasus, said: “Our mission is to inspire healthy decisions through behaviour change and our work on ‘Small Talk Saves Lives’ exemplifies this mission in the truest sense.

“It is not often you can see a campaign that has such an impact on people’s lives, but this is one such campaign. In fact, we are already starting to hear reports where people have intervened on the railway and potentially saved a life.”

The healthcare consultancy has a team of 140 people offering clients research and insights, strategic planning, media and influence relations, creative services, digital and social marketing and corporate services.