Tools and building supplies retailer Toolstation is reaching out to tradespeople who may need support with worries or mental health issues via an outdoor ad that can put them directly in touch with an expert.
The ad by the Krow Group features rotating copy that suggests talking helps, plus a QR code that, when scanned, allows people to live text with an expert within five minutes. Trained expertise is provided by the Lighthouse Club charity, with whom Toolstation has an association.
The digital outdoor campaign is running on Ocean Outdoor’s large-scale Liverpool Media Wall, directly opposite Lime Street Station, to attract the attention of construction workers as they arrive in the city for work.
Although the conversations with experts remain confidential, the Liverpool Media Wall also displays what’s on the minds of local tradespeople, with the aim of making mental health concerns highly visible and helping to end the stigma of talking about them within the construction industry.
Receipts from branches in the surrounding Liverpool area also include a free 24/7 number for the Construction Industry Helpline, which is managed and funded by the Lighthouse Club.
The idea for the campaign won third prize in the brand category of the 2021 Digital Creative Competition, run by Ocean, which fosters and supports bold, original ideas in digital out of home.
The concept builds on Toolstation’s “Tools and more for any task” mantra in a meaningful and memorable way, said Krow Group’s executive creative director Darryl George. It was, added Toolstation’s head of marketing Greg Richardson, “an important first step in raising awareness that everyone in the industry can quickly talk with someone who can help.
“Our research shows that there’s a mental health crisis in the construction industry with almost one in five knowing someone that has attempted to take their own life. Work in the sector is often characterised by limited term contracts and long unsociable hours, away from family.
"Those who work for smaller organisations or are sole traders in the construction industry might not have easy access to mental health support.”
Toolstation's study through the On The Tools network found that more than half (52%) of those working in the industry have experienced suicidal thoughts and the majority (72%) feel there is not enough being done in the sector to address conversations surrounding mental health.
According to Lighthouse Club-commissioned research by Glasgow Caledonian University in 2019, the suicide rate among tradespeople working in construction was three times higher than the national average.
.jpg)
.jpeg)
