Case Study

Client:

U of U Counseling Center

Capability:

Integrated Viral Campaign

Campaign:

Big Things Little Things

Challenge:

With college tuitions on the rise and the growing importance of a college education, getting a degree has never been more stressful. While some studies suggest reducing the amount of choices at the cafeteria buffet (wings or pancakes?!) the hard truth about student-body mental health is that there is no easy answer. So when the University of Utah Counseling Center asked Crowell to address the sensitive topic of student suicide and help overcome the stigma surrounding campus counseling, we knew it would take more than just some bold advertising to reach the jaded masses.

Solution/Execution:

Instead of trying to speak to the students, Crowell designed an integrated marketing campaign to interact with them, focusing on the issues that lead to depression and giving students what they really need, the knowledge that they are not alone.

By admitting that everyone lets little things (my hair!) turn into big things (my hair is on fire!), the aptly named “Big Things Little Things” campaign was out to reach students in an unusual way from the get-go. With the help of an undercover student task-force, 6,000 handwritten “bad-day journal entries” (made to look like actual notes dropped by troubled students) were dispersed across the campus. Each message discussed student anxiety and stress from a personal point of view before ending with a link to bigthingslittlethings.com — a landing page providing resources and information through an approachable, anonymous interface. The labor-intensive notes were bolstered by more traditional posters, banners, and car magnets. (Okay, that last one isn’t exactly traditional, but hey, neither are we.)

For the second part of the campaign, we had hand-cramps. So we exercised our mouths with a targeted PR campaign. First the student newspaper, then the local Salt Lake City Fox News affiliate, and finally The New York Times pricked up their ears, bringing national attention to the issue of collegiate mental health. Next stop, the moon!

Results:

While the extrasolar ripple effects continue to propagate — and may never be fully quantified — the short-term ramifications are propitious, and don’t use so many big words. Within an hour of the note-drop, the counseling center and campus security had received phone calls and visits from students and faculty alike, all voicing their concern. As for bigthingslittlethings.com, the length of time spent on the page averages over four minutes (52 years in web-time), suggesting that visitors are interested and engaged. And, of course, Crowell did get some shiny figurines and strangely shaped pieces of engraved glass for our efforts. Yay. When will award shows learn that trophies should be made of donuts?