Out of the black

How to present an awareness campaign about the depression, and the opportunity to get out of it, in an innovative way, going out from the inner circle of doctors and experts to reach the public? How to engage patients and caregivers on a delicate topic such as the depression? The Bridge Foundation and GAS Communication, with the unconditional support of Angelini Pharma, decided to design an integrated campaign to catch the attention, demonstrate closeness to people, inspire with a positive message. The project involved different type of organisations – from scientific societies such as the Italian Society of General Medicine (SIMG), the Italian Society of Psychiatry (SIP), to the Municipality of Milan – and different communication platforms: from social media to the Press Office or Influencer marketing, with a focus on a guerrilla marketing event, useful to communicate with the public.

The focus of the campaign was the creative work of the street artist Lucamaleonte, who during the night initially recreated a big "black hole", representing depression, on the pavement of a suburban square in Milan just in front of a metro station, usually very popular. After a week, the artist transformed this black hole into a work of art: a multi-coloured, floral bouquet to symbolise rebirth after a period of darkness, such as depression, testifying to the possibility of beating depression with commitment and the help of others. The message of the campaign was clear: Don't be afraid to ask for help: it is possible to heal from depression. #OUTOFTHEBLACK was born to break the silence and the stigma that still surrounds this pathology today. The campaign was also promoted on the social networks Facebook and Instagram and on The Bridge Foundation's website, which offers information on depression and useful advice on how to deal with it, both for the patient and for family members. Also, two young women, influencers with a great audience, was involved and echoed the campaign on their Instagram, profiles. A press conference in Milan launched the campaign, which was supported by the Italian Society of General Medicine (SIMG), the Italian Society of Psychiatry (SIP), the Lombardy Regional Section of the SIP (SIP-LO) and the Municipality of Milan - and by significant press office activity, which led to the story being widely featured.

The news gained a huge coverage on the media (newswires, TVs, Radios, newspapers, magazines, websites) with 550 articles published, 50 million di contacts reached. The campaign on Facebook involved 42.000 users, with 54.000 interactions, 2.700 click on links and 660 new fans gained. The campaign on Instagram recorded 7.200 interactions, 510.000 impressions and 184 new followers gained. The influencers campaign allowed to reach other 54.000 users, 63.000 impressions and 767 clicks on links. Overall, the social media campaign achieved great visibility and generated a significant amount of interactions. The most striking result was the very high number of comments received, proof of the involvement of an audience sensitive to the topic. A very active and interested community was built from scratch: users left touching and inspiring testimonials completely spontaneously, mutual support was created between people, with messages of affection and encouragement to gain strength in dealing with the pathology and in seeking the support of a specialist. It can therefore be said that the two Out of the Black channels represented two touchpoints of value that could become a point of reference for patients and family members seeking help, listening and authoritative information about depression.

The guerrilla event was communicated on the social media dedicated pages, with teasing posts weeks before the event and after, and thanks to a press office activity (including a press event hosted at the municipality very near the street artwork). The integrated communication plan which included a landing page, with useful information, social media pages where the community was engaged in interesting discussions, the testimonials from notorious influencers able to report their own experience and stimulate people to open themselves without fear of being judged. The press office activity gain the attention from the media during the months.