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By James Peters

Two & Out

PETERS: Bell’s mental health marketing campaign all about the bottom line

Jan 29, 2021 | 11:25 AM

THERE’S BEEN A LOT OF MENTAL HEALTH TALK this week, and that ‘s great.

Personally, I have nothing but respect for those who share their own experiences in mental health, and I’m always open to talking about my own experiences, specifically with anxiety disorder.

Mental health comes into focus this time of year, particularly because research has shown it’s a struggle for many in January and February.

That led Bell to create Let’s Talk day, a campaign that encourages people not to bury their mental health struggles inside, but to bring them into the open.

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As altruistic as that sounds, there is good reason to be cynical about this campaign.

According to Bell’s website, Bell Let’s Talk has generated 1.2 billion social media interactions since it was launched in 2011. That’s huge engagement for a campaign that is highlighted but one day per year.

Not only that, each engagement includes an impression of the company name – Bell – and the vast majority of those engagements are positive in nature.

Then there’s the attention economy. People like me composing tweet threads are spending precious attention capital on two purchases: a worthy cause – mental health awareness – and a corporate brand – Bell.

Bell Let’s Talk is a huge victory for digital brand marketing.

How much could a company expect to pay a marketing agency for that kind of guaranteed impact? Likely a good deal more than $7.7 million, which is what Bell donated to mental health initiatives in 2019.

In addition to the mental health donation, Bell Let’s Talk represents $7.7 million in very high value marketing investment for Bell.

Another way Bell Let’s Talk works for Bell’s bottom line? Simply put, the campaign results in Bell donating millions to a non-profit organization. Great. But hey, that’s a big tax write-off.

If you believe big corporations and wealthy individuals should pay more in taxes, not less, why not just donate the money directly? Then you get the tax break.

One last thing: a number of past Bell employees have told their own stories of how the company’s actions as an employer contradicted its messaging on mental health. Stories are easy to Google.

Let’s not put Bell on too high a pedestal for creating more mental health awareness. It’s just a by-product of another effort by a major corporation to line its shareholders’ pockets.

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Editor’s Note: This piece was adapted from a Twitter thread published by James Peters (@jamloops) on January 28, 2021.

This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.