As Ireland’s first ever helpline, Samaritans has been providing free emotional support for 50 years now. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, volunteers make themselves available to help those needing mental health or emotional support, which may include suicidal feelings, despair, distress and loneliness. Running such a service involves huge amounts of effort and dedication, and with the current health crisis placing many in isolation – the service has never been more vital.
That’s why TBWA\Dublin wanted to help, working with volunteers in the Dublin Samaritans branch. The challenge for the team was to create a campaign that would grab attention while also encapsulating the service Samaritans provides for those in need. Inspired by topographic imagery, each execution uses layers to illustrate the way worry or feeling overwhelmed can affect people deep below the surface. The copy then simply shows how easy it is to get in touch, and has been adapted to work across a number of different formats.
Art Director Mikey Ryan mentions “While the visuals convey the message in an abstract way, the situations for people who rely on Samaritans are very real. That’s why we pushed ourselves to create each execution for real and not just digitally. Working with the actual prints gave us the control to create a unique shadow effect, and using high-quality paper stock brings out a sense of texture you just can’t replicate on a computer”.
Volunteer Director of Dublin Samaritans branch Maggie Hayden adds “We are delighted to be working with the immense skill and dedication that is in TBWA\Dublin, they have created a very innovative campaign which we are delighted with. We are presently in unchartered and unprecedented times. We need to get our message to more people and let them know we are only a phone call or email away to be there for them for whatever worry or anxiety they have.”
On social, dynamic creative was used to share the suite of assets. With everyone’s movements now so restricted, the target audience was not defined by any specific demographics. So, this approach allowed for the ads to be optimised, increasing resonance and reach by targeting the broad audience with a combination of each visual execution, copy option and call to action.
With Screen Scene also lending their expertise, the designs used to laser cut the different layers were re-purposed to create engaging animations that add further movement and depth for online and social channels.
TBWA\Dublin
CEO, Deirdre Waldron
Executive Creative Director, Des Creedon
Business Director, Yvonne Caplice
Creative Director, Dillon Elliott
Creative Director, Clayton Homer
Art Director, Mikey Ryan
Copywriter, Marty Corcoran
Account Manager, Ronnie Ohana
Social Media & Content Specialist, Amy Tumelty
Head of Broadcast, Onagh Carolan
Producer, Ana Baena Sanchez
Finished Art, David Picquenot
Video Editor, Rupert Morris
Pre/Post Production
Photography, Adrian Stewart
Animation, Screen Scene
