Never a Bother is an innovative campaign co-created by youth — and funded by the California Department of Public Health — aimed at preventing youth suicide and reducing stigma around help-seeking before, during, and after a crisis. The campaign uplifts youth voices disproportionately impacted by suicide, particularly among Black and African American, 2SLGBTQIA+, Hispanic and Latinx, and Native and Indigenous communities. Building off a successful statewide launch and activation with Grammy Award-winning artist and activist Megan Thee Stallion, Never a Bother wanted to keep reaching young people in spaces that matter to them.
In 2025, Never a Bother did something unprecedented for a government-funded campaign: it partnered with the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival — one of the world’s most visible cultural events — for an experiential and online activation to bring a life-saving message to 250,000+ individuals in person and 12 million+ online.
We aimed to:
- Increase awareness at scale by introducing Never a Bother to millions of young people in California and beyond.
- Spark mental health conversations through music, creativity, and peer storytelling that normalize conversations around mental health, coping, and suicide prevention.
- Elevate youth voices by centering the perspectives of our Youth Advisory Board and community-based partners at our in-person pop-up.
- Build positive brand association by positioning Never a Bother as a trusted, approachable source of support.
Tackling a topic often shrouded in stigma, we created a safe, joyful entry point by merging festival culture with a deeply human message about help-seeking and support.
Our goal for Never Bother’s activation at Coachella 2025 was to spark real mental health conversations, elevate youth voices, and build positive brand association in a culturally relevant setting. To do this, we created an integrated strategy that blended high-visibility festival partnerships, grassroots youth engagement, and influencer-driven storytelling.
Our successful strategy included:
- Partnering with a trusted festival presence for onsite engagement.
We collaborated with Every One, a community care effort that focuses on co-creating a culture of inclusion, support, respect, and accountability. Any guest or staff member could visit the space to take a quiet breath and/or connect with a licensed mental health clinician. Our tent was steps away from Coachella’s iconic main stage, featuring headliners like Lady Gaga, Green Day, Charlie XCX, Travis Scott, and Megan Thee Stallion.
- Securing presence on Coachella’s owned channels before, during and after the event.
Never Bother was featured on Coachella’s Every One webpage, promoted through a co-branded Instagram post (340,000+ organic impressions; 7,000+ engagements), and highlighted in the “Know Before You Go” email sent to 1.6M subscribers (60% open rate). The Coachella app, with 200,000+ downloads, used in-app notifications to encourage festivalgoers to visit the Never a Bother space for resources, licensed therapist support, and community care.
- Putting youth voices front and center.
To represent the communities we serve, we partnered with two community-based organizations — OCAPICA and Rainbow Youth Pride Alliance — who each sent youth representatives to attend the festival and make content at our Never a Bother activation. These youth creators produced 25+ social posts, generating 37,000+ impressions and 1,500+ engagements. Their grassroots content provided peer-to-peer relatability and grounded the activation in lived experience.
- Leveraging influencer storytelling.
We collaborated with influencers Leo Gonzalez and Trey Taylor at our onsite activation to extend the campaign’s reach beyond festival attendees. Leo’s two videos — one featuring “drive-by compliments” and another spotlighting “that friend” who supports mental health at festivals — resonated with audiences, and together our influencer content drove 800,000+ impressions and 25,000+ engagements from just nine total posts on Instagram and TikTok.
- Creating live, meaningful conversations.
On site, we hosted a mental health panel featuring Youth Advisory Board member Shailen Dawkins, Mexican reggaeton artist El Malilla, and partnering organization staffer and advocate Dr. John Higgins. Their live panel and audience Q&A explored the role of music and community in mental wellness, and provided an intimate space for dialogue at a high-energy festival. Online, we posted person-on-the-street interviews with festival attendees — chatting about how music helps their mental health, what advice they have for someone who’s struggling, and more.
We know that festival activations can easily get lost amid the noise. Our challenge was to stand out in a crowded, sensory-overloaded environment. By securing placements on Coachella’s own channels, reaching attendees through trusted sources, and empowering local youth to create their own content, we successfully amplified Never a Bother’s messaging without compromising authenticity, furthering our impact in the state and beyond.
Whether people attended Coachella in person and stopped by the Never a Bother booth, or encountered the campaign on social media, Never a Bother became part of a cultural moment our audience was already tuned into. This integrated approach — anchored in visibility, authentic storytelling, and community engagement — elevated conversations about youth mental health and suicide prevention at one of the world’s most influential music festivals.
Our unique in-person activation garnered:
- 1.26M+ impressions and 35K+ engagements combined across Instagram and TikTok that contributed to a 5% follower increase on Instagram and 11% follower increase on TikTok.
- Over 1.6 million emails sent featuring our Never a Bother campaign content, with a 60.38% open rate.
- 3,000+ new users to the Never a Bother website during the two weeks during and after the activation from organic searches (16% increase in new users) and organic social media (60% increase in new followers).
Video for Never a Bother x Every One @ Coachella
