AD COUNCIL - MENTAL HEALTH CAMPAIGNS
Breaking the Silence in Communities That Were Told to Stay Strong.
Community Engagement Strategy | Trusted Messenger Partnerships | Content Development
Timeline: 2022 – 2024
The Challenge
Our country was facing a pervasive mental health crisis among people of all ages coming out of the pandemic. Even before the pandemic, rates of depression and anxiety were inching higher. 41% of adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depression (vs. 11% prior to the pandemic), and the impact was highest among the Black community at 48%. Our challenge was to help people prioritize and proactively address their mental health, but we faced a massive societal barrier of generations of entrenched stigma and shame, particularly in Communities of Color.
What We Did
We developed and executed a comprehensive Black community engagement strategy for The Ad Council’s three mental health campaigns to reach parents and caregivers of middle school children (Sound It Out Campaign), teenagers and young adults (Seize The Awkward Campaign), and adults, with greater focus on reaching men (Love, Your Mind Campaign). We partnered with community-based organizations and 30 trusted messengers to develop educational social content and 8 events. We also developed a comprehensive toolkit to provide valuable resources for community leaders.
The Results
Delivered over 4.2 million views across all content – long-form and short-form • Achieved strong Top 2 Box scores on program usefulness and intent to use content for the “Love, Your Mind” content series we developed, which featured celebrities like David Mann, Kirk Franklin, Tyler Perry, and more.
Let's Talk About What Others Won't.
The Ad Council trusted House of JOY to break through generations of stigma and reach Black communities on mental health, one of the hardest conversations there is. If your organization needs strategy that meets people where they are, not where it's comfortable, let's talk.