National Mental Health Association

The National Mental Health Association, a mental health constituency group comprised of 340 local affiliate organizations, approached LGI with a unique challenge: to create a multifaceted national campaign to spotlight the stigma the mentally ill face, and posturing new, positive attitudes.

The firm worked to address changing public attitudes toward mental illness on behalf of a major mental health constituency group that serves policy makers, community leaders, advocates, mental health system clients, and family members. The LGI team developed an award-winning national campaign "Mental Illness: The Way We Treat It Is Insane". A campaign-themed print advertising series appeared in BusinessWeek, Forbes and Fortune magazines. Building upon our national strategy, we also developed supportive materials such as a new logo campaign graphic identity, a series of public service ads (radio and TV), and strong media relations.

The program featured a major advocacy component to increase public visibility and financial support for mentally ill and homeless populations. News conferences, media relations, and other tailored strategies were employed to convey complex budgetary and legislative concerns to the public and business communities.

Further, to support a more general, ongoing public education program, the team created a targeted program to disseminate information to the entertainment industry. The campaign briefing materials detailed facts relating to severe mental illness, its causes and current biomedical research. The Hollywood outreach project resulted in the "product" placement of critical campaign messages in prime-time television programming and films. It also resulted in an accurate, sensitive, and supportive depiction of people with mental illness – a key goal of this effort.

Other LGI public health success stories include the American Red Cross, National Headquarters, the Next Generation Tobacco Control Alliance, and many others.