As a part of my MA Advertising course in Bournemouth University, I was able to take part in a boot-camp (short placement) at the Mersey Care Liverpool NHS Trust as an internship. This was a huge opportunity for me as I was finally able to apply the skills I had gained throughout my education in a practical setting within an industry I am incredibly passionate about.

​

My interest in social marketing campaigns (not to be confused with social media marketing), made this possibly one of the most valuable experiences in my life as I finally had the chance to experience what it would be like for me to work in my industry of choice and make a positive difference in the world.

​

I was given control of the @The_BigBrew twitter account and tasked with executing the #Brewfie campaign, and is now a massive social media campaign targeting depression. I thought it would be appropriate for me to first do some research on the subject and ensure all communication and content I was to post would be sensitive to those suffering from depression and actually help accomplish the goal of the campaign.

​

Before I became involved in the #Brewfie campaign, it started off as a means to support friends and family who were suffering from depression and instigate a conversation on the matter. This was the key that I wanted to hold on to. The concept as it stood was that you would have a conversation with a loved one and discuss what they felt or what they were going through over a brew, you would then take a selfie with them holding your cups up and post it to twitter with the #Brewfie. This was intended to show that you have had a conversation with someone who was going through a difficult time and remove some of the stigma commonly associated with depression.

​

After my research, I found that individuals facing depression may have reservations about someone, even a loved one, approaching them for the conversation and consequently much more hesitant to then take a selfie to post to social media.

​

My solution was to flip the script. Instead of the concerned party actively looking for people in their circle who may be going through a difficult time in their lives, they would simply post a selfie of themselves with a brew to show those they care about that they are willing and available to talk.

​

The first thing that this accomplishes is that the vulnerable party no longer feels put on the spot to discuss potentially very personal matters, and secondly, there is no public exposure or outing they might feel from the post-conversation selfie. Instead, those suffering from depression are encouraged to approach those already publicly sharing their support and willingness to help.

​

This change was reviewed and ultimately adopted during my placement, giving me the opportunity to execute the new strategy. Through daily updates and social media planning, I was able to help reboot the #Brewfie campaign and even after my placement ended, the campaign continued to grow significantly, especially close to Blue Monday, when content tends to ramp up as a response to the 'most depressing day of the year'.