Every year, different agencies involved in heart health work together or in parallel, but this year, we decided to bring all the different parties together around the table and do something for heart health in Estonia.

The campaign “Numbers that break your heart” brought together 13 different partners for a common goal: Amgen, Synlab, the Health Insurance Fund and the Health Insurance Fund’s partner Exercise Fitness Competence Centre, the Estonian Society of Cardiologists and the Radisson Collection Hotel Tallinn, Skyon, LHV, Swedbank, and the Arter Quarter. The author of the creative solution, artist Marta Vaarik, and the team of technicians from Global Productions were also involved in the lighting installation.

Creative idea: Tallinn’s city centre beats to the heartbeat

In order to talk about a topic that has been talked about for 32 years in a different way and to draw attention to it from a slightly different angle, we asked artist Marta Vaarik for help and advice. Marta is an interdisciplinary artist who works in various genres and forms and is known for breaking down traditional narratives.

Together, they came up with the idea of bringing heartbeats to urban space—a heart that works inside us and for us every day deserves attention. Just as the heart works quietly, unnoticed, much is happening in the city that we don’t notice.

The result was a light installation on the skyscrapers of downtown Tallinn, which was undoubtedly the first of its kind in Estonia.

According to Marta Vaarik, it was a visual and emotional choreography in which light and movement became a metaphor for life itself. “The city was breathing, tumbling, and secretly telling us its stories,” she said.

Numbers that break your heart

The campaign focused on hard facts:

• Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Estonia, accounting for nearly 50% of all deaths.
• It is estimated that half of all people in Estonia have high cholesterol, one of the main risk factors.

But we didn’t just choose a strategy to deliver statistics; we wanted to connect the numbers and everyday emotions, the real cases. That’s why we brought in people who have faced heart disease themselves to tell their stories, as well as those who treat people every day.

For example, well-known TV personality Kristjan Jõekalda shared his story of how he had a heart attack at the age of 51 and what life is like now, almost three years later.

Cardiologists Margus Viigimaa and Martin Serg contributed to a series of TV and radio interviews, sharing their experiences and thoughts on their day-to-day work and what should be done to ensure our hearts are not in such a bad state. In addition to numerous TV and radio appearances, articles were also published in various Estonian publications and online portals.

To reach decision-makers and policy-makers and invite experts and professionals to contribute their thoughts, we decided to organise a Heart Month conference at the beginning of April in the Riigikogu. On the same day as the conference, Synlab offered members and staff of the Riigikogu the opportunity to test their cholesterol. In total, more than 70 people had their cholesterol tested during the three-hour event.

Time:

Active activities: 1-20 april

Preparatory period: mid-January to end of March, i.e. about 2 months.

Channels:

• Heart Month conference at the Riigikogu
• Synlab cholesterol testing bus at the Riigikogu
• Lighting installation on high-rise buildings in Tallinn city centre
• TV and radio interviews
• Social media posts and coverage (Marta Vaarik’s social media, LHV, Synlab, Radisson and other partners’ social media coverage of the light installation).

Target group:

men and women aged 40+

Exclusion:

• A much-talked-about theme: heart month has been organised in Estonia for decades, which means that people talk about it and campaigns are run every year. How can we stand out and raise awareness this time?
• Multi-stakeholder: there are many stakeholders involved in heart health, each with their own responsibility and focus and communication.
• Realising an innovative idea: to organise a lighting installation on high-rise buildings in Tallinn city centre.

RESULTS

Heart Month was discussed on social media (posts by politicians, posts by project partners, e.g., on the LHV Instagram account, and posts by Marta Vaarik).