In Sweden, drowning is the most common fatal accident among children between the ages of one and six and is often the result of?a?lack?of?parental supervision. The insurance company Trygg-Hansa, which has worked with water safety for the past 65 years, wanted to create an initiative that encourages parents to keep?an eye?on?their children?by the water.?

Swimming children need your full attention, it’s a matter of life and death. But with smartphones comes distractions that easily can shift your focus. Beach Mode is an app that makes your phone completely inaccessible when you are at the beach with your children. No scrolling, no social media, no podcasts and no phone calls. The only feature that works is emergency calls.?

In a media climate that constantly discusses the moral aspect of children’s screen time, the strategy was to address parents’ potentially life-threatening screen time habits when at the beach with swimming children. Swedes spend an average of 3.5 hours per day scrolling on their phones. Lack of parental supervision is the biggest danger for swimming children. A quick glance at the phone can be the difference between life and death. Trygg-Hansa’s Beach Mode app became the symbol of the lack of parental supervision. By communicating about the new Beach Mode app, and the importance of solely focusing on swimming children, we were able to educate parents and the general public in Sweden about the importance of supervision when swimming, as well as give concrete tips on what to think of and how to act with swimming children.

The awareness campaign was launched in June, using social media videos that showed parents’ lack of supervision with the request to spread the message. A press release combined with the results of a national survey on lack of parental supervision was distributed to all media outlets all over Sweden, together with quotes from Andreas Claesson, drowning expert at Karolinska?Institutet?and Alexandra?Gahnström, children’s expert at Trygg-Hansa. For continued dissemination, a collaboration with?Margaux Dietz, Sweden’s largest Mummy blogger, was established at the same time as other influencers were advised of the initiative. The key message was clear: “Focus solely on swimming children. Everything else can wait”. All communication was linked to Trygg-Hansa’s campaign site where vital tips were shared on how to swim safely with your children.?

The initiative took Sweden by storm, and all major news outlets wrote about Beach Mode. In Sweden’s biggest newspapers, the articles became the most shared news stories of the year, as they were shared over 50,000 times. Hundreds of articles were written about Beach Mode and the importance of parental supervision and the press release was picked up organically by the singer Pernilla Wahlgren’s podcast, which reaches parents all over Sweden.

- Articles 112?

- Most shared article this year in Sweden’s two biggest newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen: 50,000

- Earned media reach: + 15 mm (Swedish population 10 mm)?

- Social Media reach: + 8 mm?

- Brand consideration among parents: +8%?

- Increase in site visits: 500%?

- The initiative gave ripple effects. Following the launch of Beach Mode several municipalities have banned mobile phones from swimming locations. And a large phone manufacturer is considering building the function into the phone.??

- Fatal drownings among children: YTD 31% below average.?