How do you address high rates of suicidal searches online? Independent agency BCM and LIVIN, a not for profit working to reduce the stigma around mental health, believe it’s through targeted messaging of words of encourage, support and navigation.
The ‘Inter(net)vention’ campaign combines insights from search data with AI-targeting algorithms to identify individuals searching online who are in a suicidal mindset, re-scoping them to crowd-sourced messages of support.
BCM Group’s head of planning Dave Mooney, told AdNews that the idea fostered around the team for two years, with an eight month turnaround once taken to the LIVIN team.
“We introduced the idea to the team at LIVIN with a separate brief,” Mooney said.
“We had the expertise of Luke Foster, the head of Psychology at LIVIN, and the team were able to ensure everything we were doing was evidence or studies-based and that what we were doing wasn't going to be harmful.
“We also worked with the team at Mindframe around how to report on suicide in the media and sat through their same media training course to ensure that we were using language appropriately.
“They were so supportive and willing to lend their expertise, insight and knowledge to help us to build what became the inter(net)vention together.”
On average, 9 Australians die by suicide every day, according to LIVIN psychologist Luke Foster.
BCM used Google's top 500 high intent search terms between the peak of midnight to 4am to build its targeted algorithm. The team also sent a survey out to people who'd survived suicide or suicidal ideation to build appropriate support messaging.
“Quite often with campaigns, there's one big insight that unlocks everything. This has been a series of 15 big insights because it's such a big topic,” said Mooney.
“If you can find people through digital media, how come you couldn't repurpose that same technology to do something to help with suicide prevention?
“How do we make sure that people at every stage of their journey are supported when they need it?
“Some campaigns can die a death of 1000 cuts. And this was the exact opposite. It was built up by the effort of thousands of really smart people contributing all along the way.”
BCM worked with Yahoo, Double Verify and Integral Ad Science to get approvals for its targeted messaging.
What came was a discussion around how to address people with cognitive constriction without overstepping any boundaries.
“When you're under the cloud of cognitive constriction, you can only see one outcome,” Mooney said.
“What came clear to us was the need to work on techniques that we could employ once people arrived at the landing page, to get them to hold on, because if you can stand to wait, the moment will pass.”
The team also worked with Lifeline, Beyond Blue and Kids Help Line to ensure site traffic was spread across multiple support systems.
They delivered the landing page in line with the Lifeline Suicide Safety Planning guide.
"So for those that needed the help immediately, there was a phone number at the very top of the page," Mooney said.
“Filtered down the page was for those that had suicide in mind but weren't necessarily taking action right then. It was about engaging, disrupting and grounding them in a way to help them move beyond that mindset.
“And then for those that were at a lower risk, it was about understanding, acknowledgement, recognising and being empathetic to their situation.”
Around 3.3% of people who reached the landing page ended up calling the support hotline, according to LIVIN statistics.
The click through rates on the ‘Inter(net)vention’ ads were 3.1% above benchmark with an average engagement on the site of about three minutes.
Mooney said this was far higher than the HubSpot engagement benchmark, which had traffic around 52 to 55 seconds on a single landing page.
“For roughly $500 invested into the campaign, around 10 people called for help, which was huge results for the campaign," he said.
“It proves that the effort that went into crafting an experience that drew people through time in a particular way was effective at getting people to hold on for that bit longer.”
LIVIN CEO Casey Lyons said that the focus was to provide support to people when they need it, most often in their darkest, deepest, and loneliest times.
“We create a lot of awareness for mental health and suicide prevention at LIVIN. And there’s always a fine line of finding balance between providing that immediate support or awareness and pushing them off to a professional resource in that moment,” he said.
“Depending on where they are in that journey, they might just need the education and to know that they're not alone.
“But there are also some people at the acute end that need immediate help, and we're mindful that if we push people away and they get a bad experience, then they're less likely to engage next time.
“So it’s very important to provide the right support, depending on where that person is in their journey.”
World Suicide Prevention Day will take place on September 10, 2025 in order to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides.
Mooney said that the team at BCM are working with TikTok to find a way to include this technology into its ‘TikTok for Good’, an official hub for charities.
“On TikTok, you see one piece of content and then it hooks you into similar content in an algorithm,” he said.
“To be able to take it into an environment where the algorithm so easily tunes into what it is you're thinking before you may even realise that you're thinking it, could have a positive impact as well.”
For Lyons, the next big step is for global platforms for adopt this technology into its systems.
“This is something they should run out of goodwill because it is good for humanity,” Lyons said.
“Suicide is the leading cause death in this country between the ages of 14 and 44. Mental illness affects one in four people.
“Why can't big tech be a big part of the solution. I know there's risk, they’ve got to uphold shareholder value, but saving a life is worth all of that.
“Google, Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, all of them need to get on board. Yahoo's already leading the way. X needs to follow suit.
"This campaign will save lives, and that's worth more than any amount of dollars they can make off all their other advertising."
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