Phone a Friend to Benefit Your Mental Health, Says This Canadian Telco

One of the most remarkable things about living in this day and age is just how easy it is to connect with other people remotely.

Think about it for a second. There’s tonnes of apps and services which will put your online messages straight into the hands of the intended recipient, instantly. Social media now provides unparalleled access into the lives of others all around the globe. And then of course, there’s the fact that you can just hop in a call with someone. Whether you’re gabbing about something random, playing video games together, or discussing serious business, we now have the ability to connect immediately with people who are hundreds or even thousands of miles away, immediately.

Yet, despite this abundance of technology enabling unprecedented degrees of connection, Canadians are reportedly lonelier than ever – especially amongst the younger generations.

This insight, gleaned from Leo Toronto’s 2024 HumanKind Study, came as a surprise to the agency, and its client, telecommunications company Bell Canada. And, upon further investigation, some very interesting takeaways came to the fore.

For a start, more than half (52%) of Canadians reported feeling lonely at least some of the time, with gen z clocking in at a whopping 77%. Moreover, although most Canadians (82%) agree that phone conversations are valuable for staying connected, several limiting factors appear to get in the way, such as ease of texting and messaging (46%), wanting to avoid bothering people (46%), and, interestingly, feeling they’ve got nothing important or meaningful to say (25%).

However, the real kicker, according to Bell Canada’s SVP and chief brand officer, Devorah Lithwick, was the fact that while half of Canadians ultimately agreed phone calls make them feel less isolated… they still weren’t actually taking the time to do this.

“[After looking at the HumanKind results], we then dove deeper with our own research to further validate the narrative,” she explains. “What really caught our attention was the universal understanding that a phone call keeps connections strong, yet there are perceived barriers, especially among generations y and z, that make them hesitant to pick up the phone for one-on-one conversations, even if it's just to chat about something trivial.”

With that in mind, it was clear to both the agency and the brand that Bell needed to get involved – for several reasons. For a start, there was the fact that the company’s business offering revolves around helping customers connect, which ensured any subsequent contribution would feel credible. As Kristine Black, VP group account director at Leo Toronto puts it, “Our immediate response was that this is an issue we really should be looking to address. Not only has Bell connected Canadians through telephones for over 145 years (how credible can you get?), but anecdotally, we’ve all felt this way. There are such barriers as to why people aren’t making phone calls.”

Equally, the team at Bell just wanted to do some real good. A longtime advocate for mental health initiatives in Canada, such as through its very own annual ‘Let’s Talk Day’, according to Devorah, internally, the collective concern surrounding the loneliness statistics made the situation impossible to ignore. “As many know, mental wellbeing is something we at Bell feel strongly about and support. So, a campaign focusing on authentic connections by just talking as a way to improve how one is feeling was a natural one for our brand.”

A Multi-Channel Masterstroke

From the outset, the team at Leo knew it would have to be meticulous and deliberate in its approach, not only due to the significance of the problem, but because Bell, despite its track record, needed to demonstrate that as a company, it actually understood the nature of the issue in authentic fashion.

“The vast majority of Canadians feel brands don't understand them or their problems,” explains Ryan Roberts, SVP group strategy director at Leo Toronto. “It was this finding that made us approach the brief – and the problem of loneliness – in a very relatable way. We didn't want to be too heavy handed, but instead simply show our understanding of the problem and present a simple solution that can help.”

To this end, Leo Toronto creative director Marcus Sagar reports that from the get-go, there was a consensus that the best way to tackle something of this magnitude would be to target an array of channels, with the intention of truly connecting with members of such a large-scale audience.

“A number of teams worked together, and once we narrowed the idea down to ‘it doesn’t matter what you talk about, just talk’, they focused their efforts on bringing it all to life,” he continues. “It was a lot of fun. We knew we had a strong message, and that we just needed to hook our audience in and meet them where they are.”

Specifically, this ambition would manifest itself via the agency delivering over 100 ‘conversation starters’, including 52 ‘Calling Cards’, radio and Spotify assets, as well as social, out-of-home, display, and newspapers. An endeavour which collectively highlighted the value of thoughtful copywriting, each piece was carefully vetted to not only ensure headline variety across mediums, but also enough ambiguity at first glance to make onlookers question why Bell might be advertising seemingly random yet simple topics.

Of course, the thing that really got people buzzing, inevitably, was the TV element of the work – three 30-second vignettes which pay homage to the beauty of spending one's time phoning friends or family to discuss literally anything at all. Directed by Trevor Gourley of FRANK Content, Marcus praises his understanding of the material, emphasising that he was integral in the success of this aspect.

“It was obvious from our initial call that Trevor got it,” the creative director says. “His approach to the three films was refreshing, and his ideas elevated the spots. Both the creative teams and Trevor were collaborative dream teams, working with amazing talent and dialogue. We love how they turned out.”

But, even with all the traditional bases covered, the Leo Toronto team wasn’t prepared to stop there. A final, crucial element of ‘It’s Good to Talk’ was the creation of an original ‘Call Me’ emoji, which Bell hopes will serve as a gateway for anxious people who crave casual voice-to-voice activity, but might be otherwise hesitant to actually pick up the phone.

“‘Call Me’ is intended to be a shorthand you can text someone to simply go, ‘Hey, all is good, just feeling like a simple chat!’,” Marcus notes. “With the research clearly indicating how many barriers there are to picking up the phone, including anxiety around bad news or having nothing important to talk about, we wanted it to be easier for people to signal to a friend that they just want a light, simple chat – nothing important.”

Changing Conversation Conventions for the Better?

While it’s still early days, with ‘It’s Good to Talk’ slated to be broadcast in market for another two months (both in English and French), things are looking up.

On the agency side, there's pride in delivering a timely, resonant campaign grounded in in-house insights, as well optimism for both the future of the Bell–Leo Toronto partnership, and the reaffirmed belief in creativity as a force for social good.

“The chance to have been involved in this campaign means everything,” Kristine says. “We believe creativity can transform human behaviour, and this is a perfect example of that. And, to have a client that believes in the idea and willing to use its voice to address this problem – this will ultimately help to strengthen the bond between Canadians and Bell.”

As it turns out, such sentiments are shared by the brand as well. Celebrating the chance to have hopefully made a difference, and to have delivered something a little bit different to the Canadian market, for Devorah, already, this campaign feels like it achieved what it set out to do.

“What we love about this initiative is its focus on simple acts that can have a great impact – just phone your friend and talk about anything,” she finishes. “We wanted this campaign to evoke the same warm feelings that a simple phone call can bring: hopeful, energised, light, and connected. ‘It’s Good to Talk’ revolves around the idea that it doesn't matter what you talk about; it's the act of making the call that brings great benefits.”