Name of Intervention/ Program
Love, Your Mind
Background and Situation Analysis
The Ad Council share an ambitious mission to create a society that is more open, accepting, and proactive about mental health. Declining mental health is the single biggest health epidemic in America. 49% of U.S residents ages 16–65 report having a mental health condition. While mental health is discussed extensively in media and pop culture, less than half of those reporting a condition are getting help or treatment. 1 Mental health stigma is a top barrier to getting the help they need.2 To address the mental health crisis, the Huntsman Mental Health Institute and the Ad Council are leading an extensive, national communications initiative. This initiative draws on the Ad Council’s long history of mental health communications and an extensive network of communications, media, business, and technology partners to amplify the impact and scale of this effort. The objectives of this initiative are to: • Normalize: Demonstrate importance of prioritizing mental health and change perceptions around seeking out help for mental health. • Educate: Improve knowledge of how to check in on yourself and take supportive steps for your mental health. • Connect: Connect individuals with culturally specific resources such as peer groups and proven tools. To understand those needing support the most, the Ad Council conducted a segmentation study across American adults, 16-65, and uncovered an audience of tens of millions of US adults that is more likely to report significant mental health struggles and faces strong social stigma. This segment also is less likely to seek help. Despite reporting mental health challenges (77% report experiencing depression or anxiety symptoms in the last 2 weeks), over half (51%) see reaching out for mental health help as a sign of weakness, not strength.1 To fight the stigma holding them back, we needed to find a way to reframe caring for one’s mental health from avoidance to acceptance. 1: Ad Council Segmentation Research, May 2022 2: Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College
Priority Audiences(s)
In partnership with the creative agency, FCB, we wanted to create a mental health platform that will last for years to come. Rather than show downtrodden and forlorn people suffering, we wanted to address the stigmas surrounding mental health with optimism. Through extensive research, we chose to focus on a specific target segment who may be reluctant to get the help they need and are more likely to hold certain beliefs that hold them back from seeking help. We also started first with Black and Hispanic men given that fewer resources are designed for them.
Behavioral Objectives
The Love, Your Mind campaign was designed to reframe mental health and those who need support through a more positive lens (awareness), help educate individuals on how to take care of their mental health (knowledge), and inspire them to take care of their mental health (Behavior). Some of the KPIs of this effort include: • Actively taking care of my mental health is a top priority to me. • It is important to me to actively take care of my mental health. • Taking care of my mental health helps me be successful in my goals in life • It’s hard for me to determine whether or not I need help/support from others.
Description of Strategy/Intervention
In order to help individuals prioritize and proactively address their mental health, we know we must overcome deeply entrenched barriers of stigma and shame that prevent people from recognizing and addressing their unique needs. However, a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work, and we knew that research with our audience was critical. The Ad Council began research by conducting extensive qualitative research as well as a large-scale segmentation study that found six types of audiences based on psychographics that meaningfully differ when it comes to mental health state, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors; This allows communicators to understand the different needs of audiences and messaging that will resonate best with each. We honed in on those who are in need of mental health support and stigma-reduction messaging. To address mental health stigma in a way that our audience would be willing to hear, we focused on finding a common value our audience holds that we could use to inspire them to think differently about mental health. Through research, we uncovered success as a primary value this audience holds and believe connecting it to mental health would inspire them to see mental health differently. They are 2.8x more likely to describe themselves as motivated, and over 60% strongly identify with the personal values of courage and hard work.3 Instead of describing success as “have and not have” they described it as “doing” and “feeling” their best – verbatims like, “going after what you want in life, doing things better, completing what you started, achieving your dreams.” That led us to our strategic solution for how we would reframe mental health. Our strategic reframe: from “mental health is a weakness” to “mental health is their greatest asset for success.” We wanted to turn mental health into a tool they could use to get where they wanted to go in life, instead of a burden to address. This strategy is the basis for the Love, Your Mind campaign. Love, Your Mind is a letter from you, to your mind, asking for love, attention and the partnership necessary to put you on the path toward success as you define it. We launched with an anthem film acknowledging the work that people were already putting in to better themselves. The film provided potential solutions by demonstrating how tending to your mental health can help you achieve what you define as success. Whether the letter came in the shape of film, print, OOH, digital, radio, or celebrity and influencer content, the substance was always the same. A letter from your mind to you, simply asking for love, attention, and support coming from a place of care, respect, and dignity. It is what we all would expect from any relationship, especially one this important. It comes from a place of care, respect, realism, and dignity. All with the intention of getting the audience to open up to themselves, and to the people in their lives. 3: MRI Simmons & YouGov analysis, Sept 2022
Implementation
The Ad Council has conducted extensive and continual qualitative and quantitative research since 2022 to gain a deeper understanding in how a communication campaign can motivate different target audiences to take action for their mental health and test work with our target audience. Launching in October 2023, the initial round of work focused on Black and Hispanic men and was then followed up soon after on new work for individuals living in rural communities. Future work will be created for additional audiences. The creative platform, Love, Your Mind, is multi-pronged, can be tailored for priority audiences, and leverages an array of partnerships and grassroots initiatives to deliver research-based, tailored messages and tools that meet the unique needs of those audiences. Creating a campaign to combat the stigma against mental health required careful consideration of sensitive medical and mental health standards, triggers, and tropes. “Love, Your Mind” was crafted with empathy, accuracy, and respect for the individuals affected by leveraging a panel of world-renowned mental health experts, physicians, clinicians, and scholars including: • Angela Diaz, MD, PhD, MPH – Dean of Global Health, Social Justice, and Human Rights, the Jean C. and James W. Crystal Professor in Adolescent Health, Department of Pediatrics and Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, and Professor, Department of Global Health and Health Systems Design at the Icahn School of Medicine. • William A. Smith, PhD – Chief Executive Administrator, Huntsman Mental Health Institute (HMHI) • Matthew Miller, PhD, MPH – Executive Director, Suicide Prevention, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs • Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., FRCP-E, FRCPsych – Chief Executive Officer and Medical Director of the American Psychiatric Association • Stephanie Rogers – Executive Vice President & Chief Communications Officer, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention • Mark Rapaport, MD – Chair, Department of Psychiatry, University of Utah and CEO of the Huntsman Mental Health Institute • Rebecca Benghiat – President and Chief Operating Officer, The JED Foundation • Michael A. Lindsey, PhD, MSW, MPH, McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research • Dennis F. Mohatt, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education Co-Director, Mountain Plains MHTTC • Shelby Rowe, Director, Suicide Prevention Resource Center, University of Oklahoma Sciences Center • Ed K.S. Wang, M.S., Psy.D., Chester M. Pierce MD Division of Global Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard Medical School • Daphne C. Watkins, PhD, Curtis Center for Health Equity and The YBMen Project, University of Michigan • Alex Schmider, Senior Director of Entertainment & Transgender Inclusion, GLAAD This diverse panel brought together different perspectives and experiences, enriching the campaign’s authenticity and relevance. Through ongoing collaboration sessions, the work successfully avoids potential triggers, sensitive topics, harmful visuals, and language that may inadvertently reinforce stigma. Throughout the creative process, the team remained mindful of the potential impact of the messaging on the most vulnerable individuals. Thorough sensitivity screenings, including feedback from focus groups and in-depth interviews comprised of our target audience and individuals with the lived experience of mental health challenges, resonant and impactful work that inspires action in the most challenging group of mental health sufferers was created. By prioritizing the well-being of the audience, the campaign fosters trust and encourages the target to seek help and prioritize their mental health.
Evaluation Methods and Results
The Ad Council measures the performance of our communications efforts and capture, monitor, and analyze metrics across four main categories: Exposure, Awareness, Engagement, and Impact. Awareness and attitudinal/behavioral metrics are captured by a continuous tracking study of a Census-balanced, GenPop sample along with augments of priority audiences. While it is still early in the evaluation process, we are seeing encouraging results. So far, the campaign has received more than $13 million in donated media support and 1.8 billion impressions. In only four months, we’ve achieved 43% campaign awareness with our target segment and are seeing movement around attitudes related to mental health4: o 37% increase in target segment strongly agreeing that “it’s a sign of strength when someone reaches out for help with their mental health” (26% TB agree*) o 89% increase in segment Hispanic Men strongly agreeing that “taking care of my mental health helps me be successful in my goals in life” (36% TB*) o 21% increase in segment Black Men agreeing “actively taking care of my mental health is a top priority for me” (75% T2B agree*) Our aim was to also drive action through the LoveYourMindToday.org website to help people learn more about mental health and what they can do if they’re struggling. Our suite of assets encouraged people to take action. The website was designed not just to get people immediate help (those who need a crisis call center or other intervention) but provide tools for proactive care and coping strategies – exercise, breathing, ways to be gentler to your mind and more. • Over 400,000 unique website visitors, skewing 57% male5 • Over 85,000 visits to our “finding support” page5 • 70% of surveyed site visitors indicated our content was very or extremely useful5 4: Ad Council Campaign Tracking Study, Oct 2023-Feb 2024 5: Ad Council Campaign Website Dashboard
Entry Letter: KK