This award winning advertising campaign focusing on young people’s mental health and those living with long-covid was a ‘first-of-it’s-kind’ collaboration between Surrey’s NHS mental health service providers.
This award winning advertising campaign focusing on young people’s mental health and those living with long-COVID was a ‘first-of-its-kind’ collaboration between Surrey’s NHS mental health service providers.
“The Talking Therapies Surrey Covid-19 project required a multi-platform approach to target a range of audiences. OH Creative responded fantastically to a complex brief and the resulting campaigns brought just the engagement we were looking for.”
The mental wellbeing of many people has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Spring 2021, six providers of NHS Talking Therapies services in Surrey came together on a single platform to jointly raise awareness of services to key target groups under the umbrella brand of Talking Therapies Surrey.
This campaign was the first time that Surrey’s main NHS Mental Health services had worked together collaboratively.
The campaign focused on 2 key audiences:
Young people 17-24
Uncertainty, disruption to life, lack of social contact and anxiety over the future has hugely affected young people and it is important that they know they have somewhere to turn for confidential and free support.
Long-COVID
Recovery from COVID can be a slow and frustrating process for some. Those who aren’t able to fully return to normal life can experience anxiety, stress and depression. The campaign aim was to get the word out that there are specific mental health services, free via the NHS, for those with Long-COVID in Surrey.
It was important that this campaign had a central brand representing all Talking Therapies providers.
We wanted it to be friendly yet modern and appeal to the very varied audience.
Our concept was agreed unanimously on first pass and we were then able to move forward swiftly on the advertising concepts.
The brand featured on advertising creative, social media platforms and official Surrey County Council websites providing consistency for those who wanted to find out more.
During the COVID pandemic young people’s mental health suffered greatly. Lockdowns meant not seeing friends, partners and peers for long periods of time. Plans for the future were put on hold and learning was carried out remotely.
Talking Therapies Surrey’s aim was to encourage young people to seek help and support for their mental health. Our creative needed to standout on crowded social media platforms and assure the audience that the service was free and confidential.
Our concept was to illlustrate the feelings of anxiety, stress and low mood with greyed out imagery which turned to vibrant colours. The photography was subtly manipulated to show the progress from anxious to hopeful for the future.
After the COVID pandemic had been moving amongst the population for a while it became clear that many who had caught COVID were suffering the effects of ‘Long COVID’. This affected people in lots of different ways but for many it meant they were unable to return to normal life and this created feelings of anxiety, depression and stress.
It was imortant to tell people in Surrey that there was a free NHS service specifically aimed at those with Long-COVID.
Our unique concept combined illustrative elements with cut-out photography and bold messaging, we chose imagery that reflected the wide range of people affected and focused on the head to reinforce the message.
