The Brief
Hitch was commissioned by Cheshire and Merseyside Public Health Collaborative (Champs) to produce and deliver a suicide prevention campaign to increase downloads of the StayAlive app by 50% (2,400 to 3,600). StayAlive is a suicide prevention resource, which encourages people to talk about mental health issues. The app is designed for people who are having suicidal thoughts or are concerned about someone who may be considering suicide.
CHAMPS wanted a campaign that would promote easily accessible suicide prevention support for individuals and concerned others in Cheshire & Merseyside specifically to make it relatable to priority audiences.
The Approach
After a short research phase driven by local we were able refine priority target audiences and develop appropriate creative and messages to drive the strategy. From the research, and driven by Campaign assets were created featuring the the ‘Stop, Download, StayAlive’ unique graphic as we recruited local case studies to feature in campaign assets, including videos. The videos featured their personal stories of mental health issues and suicidal thoughts and encouraged viewers to reach out for help and download the StayAlive app.
Our strategy and media plan were refined, relying on a mix of stakeholders engagement to amplify the campaign on social media and digital, promotion within local press as well as through paid Google, Facebook and Twitter ads.
Implementation
Our strategy and media plan were refined, relying on a mix of promotion through paid Google, Facebook and Twitter ads, a press release that was distributed to local press outlets and stakeholders engagement to amplify the campaign organically.
We developed and shared an information pack to make it easy for stakeholders and key partners to promote the campaign, accessible through a dropbox link. as well as a press release to be picked up by local media. The pack included a comprehensive stakeholder briefing, social media assets and copy, posters, business cards, and GP waiting room screen information. New assets were produced at Christmas time to reflect the pressures of the festive season.
The Results
The campaign exceeded all expectations:
- The number of downloads of the StayAlive app increased by 115% (5,148 users) - more than double the objective set out at the start.
- Our digital advertising had over 4 million digital impressions and 25,800 clicks to the StayAlive app. There was also a 450% increase in engaged app sessions. There was a 67% increase in accessibility of suicide prevention services, with one service saying they had noticed an increase in calls.
- Our best performing areas matched the target demographics set out throughout the research phase.
- Additionally, the campaign was nominated for two awards, "Best Health Campaign” and “Best Not-for-profit Campaign" at the Prolific North 2021 Marketing Awards.
We are continuing to work in partnership with Grassroots, the suicide prevention charity behind the StayAlive app, to deliver similar local suicide prevention campaigns around the country that signpost to the StayAlive app and save lives. Please get in touch for more details.
If you would like to find out more about this or any other campaign, please get in touch.