Beyond Blue: Big Blue Table
When we say blue.
Beyond Blue is Australia's most trusted mental health brand.
They don’t just help people struggling with their mental health - they save lives. Post-COVID, demand for their 24/7 Support Service surged by 18% and to this day, remains at an all time high.
Beyond Blue needed to raise immediate funds to meet current needs and simultaneously build a long-term revenue stream to meet projected demand for their services in the years to come. At the same time, they had the goal to tackle the deeply entrenched stigma around mental health.
You say Big Blue Table.
Unlike other large charities (Movember, World Vision, etc) Beyond Blue didn't have an ownable branded event or experience where Australians could engage with them.
And yet Australians were already running independent events for Beyond Blue in workplaces, homes, schools and communities. We needed to harness this grassroots activity and make it easy for people to raise money.
So we focused on creating a peer-to -peer fundraising event that focused on getting people together to talk about their mental health.
Deep conversations. Laughs with friends. A safe space to talk about mental health. A big blue table.
We created Beyond Blue’s Big Blue Table – an accessible, scalable ‘self-serve event’ designed to facilitate mental health conversations, explain why Beyond Blue was needed, and make it fun to fundraise.
Raising awareness about a new big blue brand.
Now was the time to really make things pop.
Our strategy included building widespread awareness for the campaign through advertising across social, programmatic, search, print, and emails to Beyond Blue’s 80,000 strong email list. Leveraging ambassadors Julie Goodwin and Nat’s What I Reckon, and Beyond Blue Chair, Julia Gilliard, as well as working with corporate sponsors Australia Post and Southern Cross Austereo.
Participants registered for free online to host their own Big Blue Table, on our newly developed website www.bigbluetable.com.au.
A host kit for more than fundraising.
We sent a Big Blue Table Host Kit to every person who registered. This pack had everything they needed to host a successful Big Blue Table— from table decorations, and ‘How To’ guides, through to recipe ideas, activity sheets, blue bunting and posters with key information around mental health. Every aspect of the experience was also available online as downloads, so that even more participants across the country could host their own event.
The centrepiece of the Big Blue Table was our Conversation Starters. This deck of question cards was created in collaboration with leading mental health professionals, designed to help people cut through awkward small talk, break stigma and facilitate mental health conversations in a psychologically safe context.
A journey of impact
The whole event journey was supported by targeted social content and personalised email journeys in the lead-up to the event, and during Mental Health Month in October.
This helped participants with everything from planning and styling their Big Blue Table, through to fundraising, and facilitating meaningful conversations about mental health.
And participants were encouraged to use the #bigbluetable hashtag to share their mental health stories and photos of their events.
Results
SERVICES USED
Peer-to-peer Campaign Development
Campaign Strategy
Brand Development
Campaign Concept Development
Creative, Design & Video
Product Design
Copywriting