WHO: Mental Health Care For All - Let’s Make It A Reality

Challenge
COVID-19 exposed deep inequities in mental health care, and WHO needed to respond with urgency, empathy, and reach to advocate for better, rights-based mental health services. The challenge was to inform and to engage: they sought a campaign that could start a global conversation around mental health: one that would reflect the diversity of lived experience, encourage people to share their own stories, and instill hope that access to quality care is possible. The campaign needed to be cost-effective, adaptable across languages and platforms, and powerful enough to mobilise both the public and governments.

Approach
We grounded the campaign in the power of lived experience, building a remote production model that enabled local crews to film real people, in their own environments, speaking from the heart. This approach kept our footprint light while making space for honest, culturally grounded stories to emerge. Working closely with WHO, we created a distinctive visual identity that ran through every element of the campaign, giving emotional weight to the series.

Watch the series now:

Launched for World Mental Health Day 2021, the series became the emotional heart of WHO’s campaign to share crucial information, mobilise public support and pressure governments to implement the Mental Health Action Plan to 2030. Stories of isolation, recovery, and hope grounded the message in personal realities while a consistent visual identity gave the campaign recognisability and reach across channels.

The project provided WHO with a platform to inform, inspire and empower. The campaign encouraged people to take charge of their own mental wellbeing and care for others, while strengthening WHO’s global call for governments to prioritise accessible, community-based mental health care. The visual language developed for the series continues to be used across WHO’s mental health communications today, a testament to its impact, adaptability, and lasting relevance.