In collaboration with Propulsion, Marketing Network has recently published the results of regional competition for best examples of integrated campaigns with the subject matter of media, information, and digital literacy. Six best examples of good practice will be presented at 7th festival of integrated communication – KAKTUS 2021, which will be held on 2nd and 3rd November in Belgrade. Among the campaigns that are going to be presented is also the UNBREAKABLE, the campaign of Hemofarm Foundation and New Moment New Ideas Company. With regard to this, we spoke to Suzana Đorđević, Director of Hemofarm Foundation.

Why is it important that brands include the topic of media and digital literacy in their campaigns?
For 21st century business, media and digital literacy are part of corporate culture and brand ethics. For a campaign to become socially relevant, it is necessary to have reliable partners, professionals in the project, relevant content, timely communication, and interaction with the public the content is intended for. Without that, no public is ready to actively participate and contribute to positive changes in the society. Over the past six and a half years alone, Hemofarm Foundation has won 24 awards for its activities owing to such method of operation. We have recently received an award for ‘promotion of trust in business’, which is in direct correlation with the importance of including media and digital literacy into the UNBREAKABLE campaign, the aim of which is improvement of people’s mental health, fighting depression and stigma that haunts those affected.

Why is the UNBREAKABLE campaign different from other campaigns and why is it important in this particular moment?
It is important because we, in Serbia, have ‘normalised a life in trauma’. Starting from the 1990s to this day, we have survived several wars, bombing, assassination of a Prime Minister, transition that is in progress and much more. Nowadays, we are witnessing one of the largest crises of global health that has turned our lives upside-down. We’re all in the same boat, yet this ‘boat’ of ours had gone through many a storm before. A few years ago, after the closing of our first A Cup of Coffee with a Psychologist panel, with the topic of ‘Depression – How you Reach this Stage and How to Get over it’, judging by the packed premises of Dorćol Platz and over 280K views on YouTube, we knew that depression was a topic we would have to deal with. The UNBREAKABLE campaign came as a logical sequel of events, a consequence of the agony we have been living in for almost two years in which we do not know what’s ahead of us. We started the campaign, having continued to promote the ‘Caring for People’s Health as a Trusted Partner’ mission of STADA and Hemofarm, wishing to offer people help and support, and to tell them they were not alone.

Why is it necessary to talk about mental health every day?
Because it is a part of daily health hygiene, as washing hands and brushing teeth, or going for annual medical check-ups. I have had this impression for a long number of years, that people in our country do not seem to love themselves and do not take enough care of themselves. It is important for every one of us to ask ourselves on a regular basis, if we are living a life we have imagined for ourselves and our children, and if the answer is negative to try to change something. However, in this region, it seems that we tend to deal more with affairs of other people that with our own. We are more interested in what our neighbour is doing, in what’s on TV or how things are in the neighbouring countries, then how we feel. We discuss health at weddings and funerals. We see a doctor when the pain becomes unbearable, and a psychologist – well, never, because it is ‘a shame’. There is a solution for every problem if we ask for help on time. One must take care of his/her physical health as much as of his/her mental health. This is a matter of personal hygiene which we must adopt. One must practice humanity and solidarity every day, because ‘no one can be good until everyone is better’.

What are the results of this campaign and can certain tangible progress be seen?
More than 700,000 people have joined the UNBREAKABLE Movement for Fighting Depression, which itself speaks in favour of this initiative. More than 5,000 people have received help and support, owing to the SOS line we have provided for fighting depression: 0800 001 002. We owe huge gratitude to the Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy, which is our partner in the campaign, as well as to the professionals – psychologists and psychiatrists of four special hospitals for psychiatric disorders – in Vršac, Gornja Toponica, Kovin and Novi Kneževac. They are also our partners, who work on the SOS line 24/7. It is important to point out that all calls to the SOS line are free of charge and anonymous, and that the help is also available via e-mail: podrska@nesalomivi.rs . As of the start of the campaign on 26th April to this day, more than 30 personal stories of persons who are fighting depression or who have won that fight have been published on: www.nesalomivi.rs, along with 26 blogs of professionals on mental health issues, the most frequent questions and answers on depression, advice for fighting depression, an address book of mental health institutions, as well as four A Cup of Coffee with a Psychologist panels. More than half a million people have seen the campaign in 28 medical centres throughout Serbia, millions of people have seen the campaign in Naxis taxi vehicles, while four million people have been acquainted with the UNBREAKABLE campaign via social networks. The campaign has also been supported by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia, as well as by over 650 companies, business associations, organisations from Serbia and abroad. This campaign has also inspired many other organisations to start initiatives in the domain of mental health, which we see as one of the important contributions of the UNBREAKABLE campaign. We are sincerely happy for that fact and this adds more meaning to the slogan of the campaign: ‘When we are together, nothing can break us!’