Behind the Scenes of a Mental Health Media Win

We recently wrapped up an integrated marketing campaign with a healthcare services agency that focused on a topic I care deeply about: how mental health concerns often show up in teenagers and young adults long before anyone realizes what’s really going on.

The final stretch of this work involved media planning and coaching a few mental health professionals who were about to be interviewed on local news. These were smart, capable women, but like most people, they were understandably nervous about being on camera.

After the segment aired, one of them shared with me, “That actually went really well. It was fun.”

That’s exactly the goal.

Here’s how we got there:

Media Briefings That Do the Heavy Lifting
We sent clear, thoughtful briefings to the WECT news team ahead of time. We helped them understand what was at stake, offered questions that would help move the conversation in the right direction, and pointed to specific actions the community could take after watching.

Coaching That Meets Experts Where They Are
The people we coached didn’t need help understanding the subject matter—they live it every day. What they needed was a way to talk about their work in a way people could actually understand. We worked together to find language that felt both accurate and approachable. It was less about “dumbing things down” and more about keeping things human.

This project reminded me what’s possible when communication doesn’t get treated like an afterthought. When the right people are given the tools to share what they know, it opens doors. It makes things feel less scary. It helps someone watching at home realize, “That sounds like what I’ve been going through. Maybe I should talk to someone.”

That’s the kind of marketing I’m interested in. And I’m grateful to have played a small part in work that will lead to more people getting the care they need.