Brightening islanders’ lives on the most depressing day of the year with Skipton International

Challenge
A strong community spirit developed during lockdown in Spring 2020 under the banner #GuernseyTogether, a message championed by the States of Guernsey. In January 2021 positivity was waning, with the UK plunged into second and third full lockdowns and no sign of when Guernsey would lift its strict border restrictions. Findings from the Bailiwick Community Survey in August 2020 found that COVID-19 and lockdown had had a significant impact on wellbeing.

Orchard approached the bank Skipton International with a wellbeing-focused campaign to foster positivity.

Objectives:
• Create a campaign to positively impact the community’s wellbeing, dispelling the stigma of mental health issues and positioning Skipton International as a wellbeing champion
• Create a PR campaign (to be revisited annually) to align with Skipton International’s iconic purple brand, creating more opportunities for islanders to see a recent rebrand
• Create a story of interest to the news media, at a time when there are few major news announcements
• Create a sense of community and togetherness via inspirational messages, at a time when a limit remained on mass community events

Approach
The media annually talk about Blue Monday (18th January, in 2021) as the most depressing day of the year – due to the winter weather, limited sunlight, post-Christmas fatigue and credit card bills arriving – so this was our ‘hook’ to interest the media in a campaign. The idea was to reach islanders across a 24-hour period, via numerous direct touchpoints, by placing temporary inspirational signage around high-footfall areas of Guernsey’s capital, St Peter Port, and the rest of the island.

The campaign would use Skipton’s brand colours to bring warmth to Blue Monday and rebrand it to Purple Monday. Skipton would reveal they are behind the stunt via an embargoed press release to the Guernsey media, and social media content.

Approaching two established artists, we created 10 designs featuring inspirational quotes for the posters and researched and obtained permission for signage to appear in 36 locations.

Working closely with Guernsey Mind ratified the campaign, and ensured the signage contained appropriate and inclusive messaging. Skipton International provided a donation to the charity.

PR

• Ahead of the stunt an embargoed press release was sent to media so they ran the story on the morning of Purple Monday – the same time as the public were seeing the signs
• We secured media attendance and interviews with Skipton International, Guernsey Mind and the artists on the morning of the stunt at the site of the most central sign
• A photographer captured the signs as dawn broke and we circulated a variety of imagery immediately to all media unable to attend the photo opportunity – securing online news coverage

Social

• Impactful social media posts scheduled throughout the day initially shared an intriguing equation considering the maths of how ‘Blue Monday’ is calculated, then imagery from the campaign was revealed
• Contacting a number of Guernsey-based influencers and encouraging them to share the activity online created the opportunity to reach a higher number of people who didn’t originally see the campaign
• Including the hashtag #PurpleMonday on signage and supporting marketing material encouraged islanders to share the artwork on their social channels

Digital

• Supporting video content on Orchard’s channels, showing the behind the scenes of the campaign, gave the campaign longevity beyond the day itself.