Film for Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation

The assignment

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation should ideally be performed within one minute, which is why it is so important that someone intervenes when an incident occurs. Everyone can save lives, and it is better to do something than nothing at all. That was the message that the Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation commissioned Appelberg to communicate in an educational film.

The Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation has a good audience reach in the 35–55 age group, but has had difficulty reaching the younger audience aged between 15 and 35. The focus of the educational film would therefore be on this new, younger and hitherto difficult-to-reach target group.

The goal of the film was to get the message out that everyone can save lives, by conveying clear, simple and vital knowledge that makes the recipient dare to take the step and intervene and perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation when needed. With the younger target group in mind, the challenge was to go beyond the framework of the traditional educational film and find a new and engaging format.

The solution

‍To be able to capture this younger target audience we needed a film that was entertaining without compromising on its vital message. The solution was an exciting blend of film and animation, where an actor, at a frantic pace, tells the story of a rainy Monday when he was on his way home from work and saved the life of a man who had collapsed.  

The outspoken and rather cheeky monologue was interspersed with an animated action film that shows how relatively straightforward it is to save someone’s life. A shorter teaser version was published on Facebook and Instagram and the film was then distributed on Facebook and Väntrums-TV (a tv service for waiting rooms).

The result

The film reached 442,602 people aged 18–35 on Facebook through a sponsored post, which is a huge success for the Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation with this previously hard-to-reach target group. But even in the 36–55 age range, the film was successful with a reach of 387,566.  

It was also shown on Väntrums-TV (waiting room TV), which meant an additional exposure of just over 2 million. By daring to go beyond old communication patterns, the Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation has found a new voice that engages with this previously hard-to-reach younger target group, but without neglecting its loyal followers. And in doing so it doubles the chances of reaching out with its message about how to save lives.