CONTENTS

A. Introduction
B. Target Audience Profile
C. Advertising Rational
D. Strategic Summary

Strategic Plan Mental

Madison Elaine Hahn
Health PSA Comm 421W
 A. Introduction
MHA, or the Mental Health America, is a non-profit founded in 1908. MHA is the nations
leading community-based nonprofit dedicated to addressing the needs of those living with mental
illness and to promoting the overall mental health of all Americans. It was established by
Clifford W. Beers, a recent graduate of Yale College and a newly-minted Wall Street financier,
suffered his first episode of bipolar disorder. In the throes of his illness, Beers attempted to take
his own life by jumping out a third story window. Seriously injured but still alive, Beers ended
up in public and private hospitals in Connecticut for the next three years. After his time in
treatment, suffering and witnessing horrible abuse, he created Mental Health America in order to
raise awareness of the early signs of mental illness and encourage early treatment. The MHA has
an established record of effective national and grassroots advocacy and achievement. With over
200 affiliates in 41 states, 6,500 affiliate staff and over 10,000 volunteers.
The group offers a number of services and programs to individuals with mental illness. They
have free screening services on their website for a number of mental illnesses from bipolar
disorder, to anxiety, to depression. Most of their resources and campaigns focus on noticing the
early signs of mental illness and seeking help, for example their #B4Stage4 and
#mentalillnessfeelslike campaigns. They also work to reach the rest of the communities affected
by these illnesses, encouraging them to talk to change the stigmas associated with mental illness
and to volunteer to help. The main goal is not only to help individuals, but to help end the stigma
by encouraging open and public conversation about mental illness. They believe the more society
is open to these kind of conversations, the easier it will be for those suffering to accept they may
have an issue and seek support.

Today 1 in 5 adults suffer from mental illness, which is over 40 million Americans. Of those,
56% do not seek treatment. Also, in recent years youth depression has rocketed from 8.5% to
11.1% from 2011 to 2014. Today over 20% of youth ages 13 to 18 suffer from a mental illness.
Studies show that 50% of lifetime mental illnesses start by age 14. Mental illness comes with
many symptoms such as, tiredness, trouble focusing, loss of interest, anxious thoughts, mood
swings, compulsions and more. These symptoms affects the lives of these young adults to the
point where many drop out of school or even commit suicide.

B. Target Audience Profile

The leading audience that we are directing our message towards are high school aged
individuals, ages 14-18, suffering from symptoms of mental illness. These individuals may not
be fully aware that the things that they are feeling could be symptoms of a mental illness, and are
most likely not aware of how or when to seek help. These individuals are involved in afterschool
activities and with their school in various ways, but lately have been feeling a bit off and less
interested in their hobbies. The main reasons we are choosing to target those individuals with the
mental illness and not those who are around individuals with mental illnesses is because of
information we found on a number of mental health sites, including MHA. MHA tells those
individuals who are close with mentally ill people to set boundaries, but not to push them to seek
help. Additionally, 20% of youths age 13-18 live with some sort of mental illness while 50% of
all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14. On top of that, the delay between onset of
symptoms and intervention is anywhere from 8-10 years. This age group is massively vulnerable
and needs to be informed that they can get help.
 C. Advertising Rationale (Communication Problem)
The primary communication issue is trying to talk with an audience that is unaware they need
help and/or how to get help. Our target is experiencing symptoms of a mental illness, but lacks
the motivation or confidence in their diagnosis to start looking for help. Right now, our target is
alone and scared. They know something is wrong with them - as they experience these symptoms
- but they dont know what. They dont necessarily know they have a mental illness, thus why
they arent currently seeking help. About half of those suffering with mental illness start seeing
symptoms by the time they are 14, our target age, but according to research it takes an average of
8 - 10 years for those suffering to seek help, for various reasons. Many of those suffering do not
understand that their behaviors may be a symptom of mental illness, or believe that the
symptoms are not serious enough to begin seeking treatment. Our goal with this campaign is to
shorten that span and encourage these teenagers to seek professional help early on. Working with
Mental Health America specifically benefits this campaign in a big way, because the resources
they provide seek to accomplish the same goals we have, early treatment and recognition of
symptoms.

D. Strategic Summary
Positioning: The campaign will work to convince high school age individuals, ages 14-18,
suffering from symptoms of mental illness to seek help for the mental illness they may have
experienced warning signs for.

Supporting Evidence: Many mental health organizations suggest that though friends and family
may help push the sufferer of mental disease toward help, their pressure can only deter the
individual from actually seeking treatment. However, these organizations also say that in many
cases, this push can cause a boomerang effect within the individual and cause them to refuse to
take help and cause them to avoid any sort of treatment to prevent having an association with the
stigma. We believe the campaign would be most effective when directly targeting the individuals
who have the power to get the help they need.

Brand Personality/Style: To properly communicate our promise to our highs school aged
individuals, suffering from symptoms of mental illness, the advertisements will be presented in
serious and allegorical in style with a dramatized in tone while encouraging our target to seek
treatment for their mental illness.