Splendid and Movember Sport the Signs

Office of National Statistics (ONS) data revealed the shocking fact that three out of four suicides in the UK are men. So we were tasked by men’s health charity, Movember, to raise awareness around men’s mental wellbeing on World Suicide Prevention Day (10th September) as part of a wider integrated marketing campaign. They wanted to educate people on the early signs that may indicate someone is struggling with their mental health, driving traffic to their ‘Spot the Signs’ landing page that is designed to equip people with the knowledge, tools and confidence to reach out to loved ones to prevent them reaching crisis point.
As a charity traditionally known for the annual initiative ‘Movember’, and with a limited budget and time available, we needed to find a way to play a relevant role and generate positive conversation about mental health.
We knew from Movember that men struggle to talk to each other and friends and family about their emotional wellbeing, including expressing if they’re struggling, or asking a friend if they’re ok. But by conducting our own research study, we found that an informal environment, such as at the pub, or watching a football game, is a time when most men said they’d be most comfortable checking in with a friend. What’s more, our research indicated that almost half (48%) of individuals in the footballing community had grappled with their mental well-being. As a result, we rooted our campaign in the world of sport – specifically football as the number one sport in the UK – as a way of reaching our target audience.
However, whilst reaching and educating men was critical to this campaign, we also wanted to find a way to encourage as many people as possible to check in on the men in their lives on World Suicide Prevention Day.
As a result, we activated a multi-phase earned media campaign named Sport the Signs, with the objective of raising awareness around the signs to look out for in someone struggling with their mental health, as well as the steps to take to help.