How Mind tackled tough topics and got people talking about mental health
Mental health charity Mind won in the Grand Prix and Best Response to Change categories at The Drum’s Social Media Awards in 2022. Here we find out what went into the project…
'The Fight for Mental Health' by Mind / Mind
Back in 2020 Mind’s long-running strategy was that one in four people that have a mental health issue. Over the years, it fought various stigmas, got people talking and appealed to middle-aged (and middle-class) white women. But then the world changed.
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The brief
The Covid-19 pandemic and the killing of George Floyd sparked a worldwide outrage. Uncomfortable truths about the mental health system and its impact on young people, Black people and those in poverty were unavoidable. There was distrust and Mind needed to speak up boldly and consistently to win people over.
The idea
Tentative, well-being content was no longer going to cut it, but they knew that in order to tackle tough subjects like racism and transphobia there would need to be a huge shift in their output. The plan was to be more reactive and call out people in power that could make a change.
For example, the organization took on Piers Morgan after his critical comments of Meghan Markle’s suicidal thoughts, despite Mind’s partnership with ITV. Mind never backed down and it paid off in the end.
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The results
Total engagement went from 3.9m per year to 7.9m per year and tweets would regularly make news. Video views went from 7.5m to 13.5m per year.
Its tweet about Meghan Markle was extremely successful with 31,000 retweets and 96,000 likes. The same Facebook post had a reach of 400,000 – six times higher than the monthly average.
All results achieved were organic. Aside from the numbers, Mind noticed that its audience had started to ‘self-moderate’ calling out racism, transphobia and other kinds of hate speech. Social media posts regularly made headlines on the BBC, Pink News and The Huff Post.
By sharing relatable stories, Mind knew they would lose followers but it was the right thing to do.
This campaign was a winner at The Drum Awards for Socia Media 2022. You can see all the winners here. The Drum Awards for Marketing are currently open for entry. Find out how you can enter now.