Why is this work relevant for Media?

We're in the most stressful time of our lives. So people go out of their way to avoid hearing or reading about Covid – with TikTok and Instagram as their platforms for escaping the stress of reality. On these platforms used to escape Covid, we confronted it — combining experiences of crushing items that stress us out, with honest confessions from Singaporeans. On World Stress Awareness Week, our #oddlysatisfying content on TikTok and Instagram allowed Singaporeans to crush what was crushing them, and also let many around the world vent their frustrations and feel better. One crush at a time.

Background

Our friends and families were seriously stressed out from Covid. So we knew we had to do something to help ourselves and those we love. Leading up to World Stress Awareness week, we challenged ourselves to an in-house creative initiative: find a safe way for those around us to destress. Knowing we had zero dollars, we still gunned for maximum engagement – and set out to create a simple social content series that empowered Singaporeans (and everyone in the world) to vent their pandemic frustrations.

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

Endless lockdowns. Cancelled holidays. Families separated. The list of things that stressed Singaporeans out goes on. So we invited them to send in items that represented what was mentally crushing them. Then on World Stress Awareness Day, Covid Crusher crushed everything that was crushing them. We loved the idea of slow crushes under a pneumatic press for a couple of reasons: 1. It was #oddlysatisfying. Tapping on the psychological relief effects of ASMR and hydraulic press videos, crushing that work-from-home laptop that stressed us out is a stress-relief dream come true. And hearing all that glass and metal crack makes it feel even better. 2. It made our audience realise they were not alone. Every item came from someone who shared why it stressed them out. Later on, our audience came forward to share that our content made them feel less alone, knowing others shared their specific struggles.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Stressed and helpless; this was the collective attitude among Singaporeans that needed a creative solution. This paved the way towards a clear strategic objective: empower stressed out Singaporeans to take action to vent their pandemic frustrations. From here, our in-house creative initiative was created by Singaporeans, for Singaporeans. With Covid Crusher, you get to crush what's crushing you. Media-wise, TikTok and Instagram were the perfect platforms for anyone to send in anything, so we could engage Singaporeans in action and co-create content with them. After they took action and sent in items, offline engagement translated online when they watch their items getting crushed as we tagged them on Instagram and TikTok. These platforms amplified it so that fellow Singaporeans (and others around the world) who didn't get to send items in still benefitted from the satisfaction of Covid Crusher.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

Covid Crusher was created completely independently by our creatives, co-created with Singaporeans who sent us their stories and items to be crushed! We rented a pneumatic press, then collected items from the people who wanted to crush what stressed them out. Our team of 7 then spent 7 weeks and 0 dollars to ideate, shoot, edit and publish this series in time for World Stress Awareness Week. The Covid Crusher content series ran for 3 weeks organically Instagram and TikTok. No money was spent on boosting our posts or buying other forms of media. But as we will see in the next section – Covid Crusher took off and found its audience independently.

List the results (30% of vote)

In less than 3 weeks, we scored - 27,074 impressions - 25,483 reach - 700 engagements - 131 new followers - with 0 dollars spent on media The best part? This initiative that was created to help Singaporeans, found a growing worldwide audience on TikTok where our content allowed anyone to vent their frustrations. The team also received many encouraging online comments and first-hand offline accounts from friends and families, who shared that viewing our content and seeing others share their specific struggles made them feel less alone and less stressed.

Please tell us about the social behaviour that inspired the work

We spotlighted 3 social behaviours that inspired this campaign. 1. People go online to escape the offline. The boom of Animal Crossing and virtual travel videos showed us that going online to escape from the offline is our new normal. This inspired us to create a purely social content series for our audience. 2. The stress of Covid is hitting us hard, and it demands action from us. Many Singaporeans reportedly feel helpless not knowing what they can do for themselves and others to feel better. So we knew our content must empower them with tangible actions to vent their frustrations. 3. People find ways to feel better through content they consume The psychological satisfaction of ASMR and hydraulic press videos are undeniable. So we brought them together – one crush at a time. Answering to these important behaviours, Covid Crusher was created to help those around us.