Experiential marketing for mental health awareness

Experiential for mental health awareness
Talkspace is an app that works to reduce the stigma associated with mental illnesses and provides an affordable and convenient option for treatment; users are connected with a licensed therapist for a real-time therapy via chat.

This revolutionary app has been on the market for over two years. But the past few weeks have seen the app garner the most attention since its inception. Why? Experiential marketing.

The event organisers orchestrated a pop-up activation in New York that was both eye-catching and directly linked to the brand’s core mission.

To highlight Talkspace’s mission to bring transparency and accessibility to mental healthcare, the design comprised two clear bubbles inside which was staged a traditional therapists office. The office was fully equipped with laminate flooring, rugs, armchairs, light fixtures, greenery, and side tables complete with boxes of tissues. And of course, each dome also boasted an iPad connected to the Talkspace app, and passers-by were invited to step inside for a complimentary chat session with a therapist.



Although only 50 people went into the bubbles during the two-day event, the activation ended up generating more than 90 million impressions; 78 million impressions through traditional media coverage and an additional 15 million on social media with the hashtag #PopUpTherapy. This activation is a testimony to the fact that the number of participants to a stand or activation isn’t the be all and end all of your numbers.

When measuring the ROI of these sorts of activations, many marketers will generally look for cost per sample/participation, when actually they should be looking at the cost per impression which is clearly a winner here.



You need only have a scroll through the App or Play Store to realise that the app world is overcrowded and getting noticed is no mean feat. In making it live in the real world and creating an offline experience for this online app, Talkspace succeeded in getting people talking – in more ways than one. 

Joss Davidge is managing partner of BEcause, an award winning brand experience agency which has been helping brands become more tried, tested and talked about for over 20 years.

Read more from Joss in our Clubhouse.

 

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