Southwest Michigan Behavioral Health works in partnership with Community Mental Health agencies and local providers in eight Michigan counties to treat children and adults with severe and persistent mental illness, emotional disturbance, intellectual/developmental disabilities and substance use disorders (SUD).
Michigan communities have been experiencing a mental health crisis for years. Exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, these struggles are reflected in rising suicide and drug overdose rates. Help is available but barriers persist, impacting diverse populations with varied experiences and perspectives.
SWMBH reached out to King Meda with the specific objective of launching an equity campaign that improves access to treatment while reducing stigma, particularly among minority and underserved populations. Southwest Michigan communities need trustworthy, compassionate mental health care more than ever, and SWMBH is committed to reaching those who need help.
Active duty and military veterans, first responders, the LGBTQ+ community, unhoused people, those in poverty, ethnic minorities, and those without medical insurance are among those disproportionally impacted by untreated mental and behavioral health issues. Collectively, this became our target audience—with a many sub-audience blends to support a highly strategic and targeted effort.
To improve access and destigmatize mental health care, SWMBH audiences needed to understand that it’s time. It’s time to make struggling with mental health feel less shameful. To encourage more social support for those who are suffering. To dispel stigma, and to urge those who need help to reach out. It’s time to “Flip the Script” on mental health.
It all starts with research, and King Media took a deep dive. We studied resources provided by SWMBH including data from their Community Health Needs Assessment, surveys, and equity responses from focus groups. We also reviewed volumes of information and literature on racial and ethnic disparities in mental health care and substance use treatment. Collectively, these inform the basis of our anti-stigma campaign.
More than a quarter of people of color who live in West Michigan reported experiencing poor mental health in 2021—more than double the 2019 rate of 12.1%. As SWMBH’s assessment confirms, personal and cultural beliefs and stigma are significant barriers to accessing treatment across multiple populations in southwest Michigan. Stigma is the largest barrier to getting help and follow-up care in the Black community, and stigma reduction is identified as a top priority in SWMBH stakeholder surveys.
Stigma is harmful to mental, physical, and social health because it creates shame, fear, and silence. Often, stigma acts as a powerful barrier that stops individuals from seeking help and getting treatment. To combat this, our team identified several data-supported goals for our creative concept. We wanted to make it feel less shameful to struggle with mental health. We wanted to encourage social support for those who are suffering. And, most importantly, we wanted to get those that need help to reach out for treatment.
The resulting “Flip the Script” media plan leverages paid, earned and owned media tactics and soft-launched in 2023 with ads on Facebook, broadcast radio/streaming audio, and outdoor billboards. King produced all creative assets, from the campaign logo and schemas to audio and video production, ADA-accessible digital assets, and print-ready mechanicals.
Coleen King personally negotiated placements throughout Barry, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties. All digital and social media campaigns were managed in-house to provide the level of hands-on monitoring, analytics and optimization necessary to achieve outstanding results.
This year, we’re building additional assets for the “Flip the Script” creative library; developing an inviting and informative web property to provide specific information for the target audience; and will extend the media campaign to a blend of broad and targeted audiences.
The campaign’s social media soft launch featured “Brave,” a video ad that delivered 224,173 impressions and substantial engagement with 68,452 interactions. What's truly noteworthy is the outstanding 2.1% click-through rate (CTR), which surpasses the industry benchmark of 0.9%. These outstanding engagement and click-through rates are a testament to the creative, which resonates with both men and women across a broad range of ages.
The streaming audio segment of the campaign made a notable impact, delivering 233,102 impressions and reaching over 85,000 users across a wide range of
applications including Spotify, iHeart, Pandora, NPR and more. The campaign achieved the audio completion rate benchmark of 95%, with an overall completion rate of 95.65%. Coverage was widespread, blanketing every zip code within the SWMBH jurisdiction.
These metrics suggest that our messages are connecting well and resonating with diverse audiences. With this, we’ve moved forward and built additional assets for the campaign’s creative library and extended media promotion to a blend of both broad and targeted tactics.
The 2024 campaign has not disappointed. Launched January 16, its performance through May 31 indicates streaming audio has achieved 131,751 impressions, 47,150 of them unique, for an average frequency of 2.79. Audio spots enjoyed a 94.8 % completion rate. On Facebook and Instagram, the campaign achieved 870,285 impressions reaching an estimated 196,070 individuals. On Snapchat, 499,772 impressions reached 137,574 individuals and received 875 clicks. The traffic portion of the campaign received 4,440 clicks resulting in a 1.74% CTR.
