Beagle Street - Happy For Life

As a newcomer to the life insurance market, Beagle Street wanted to do things differently, helping people think about how they live, not just what happens when they die. The Guardian’s Mood of the Nation research showed that active people are happier people. We wanted to share that with our readers and  help them understand what really makes them happy (and what doesn’t).

To kick off the campaign we created an entirely new vertical in the Guardian – Happy for Life, then filled it with 61 pieces of editorial content over 4 months. Asking questions like are you depressed without knowing it, as well as advice on how to release your inner child and making more realistic New Year’s resolutions.

Next we created a bespoke mobile app, which suggested daily mood-boosting activities, ranging from drawing a doodle to registering as an organ donor. Each day, users picked one to complete, then reported back on how they felt afterwards. By using the app, users gradually learned which activities had the most positive effect on their moods and the mood of the nation.

Finally, we created a video series featuring renowned psychotherapist and agony aunt, Philippa Perry, responding to readers’ real-life problems (received via a dedicated 24-hour phoneline). From 'I'm a porn addict who can't stop masterbating' to 'How can I relax in job interviews?

The campaign was one of the most successful ever to be created by Guardian Labs. In all, the editorial articles generated well over 2 million page views. with a further 800k views of the video series. Over 30,000 people took part in the live experiment via the mobile app.