Rethink Mental Illness and Media Agency Group campaign for Schizophrenia Awareness

Media Agency Group has coordinated a powerful advertising campaign for national mental health charity, Rethink Mental Illness.

Launched to coincide with Schizophrenia Awareness Week, the adverts will run from September 22^nd for a two week duration. Featuring on train passenger panels throughout the country, the ads have been created to raise awareness of schizophrenia and campaign for change.

The campaign will run on London Overground, Southern, South Eastern and Great Anglia trains.

Using a statement as a headline immediately creates a high-impact advert, which goes on to detail the plight of one relative of a schizophrenia sufferer.

The emotive campaign draws attention to the fact that people with serious mental illness die, on average, 20 years before their time mainly from preventable physical illnesses. Audiences are encouraged to use a text response to pledge support.

The campaign uses the real story of Clare, whose brother Mark died of a heart attach aged only 47. The creative uses muted colour tones and powerful imagery to captivate audiences, with minimal colour use drawing attention to key aspects of the campaign.

Advertising on public transport is a highly effective way for charities to portray a message to captive audiences experiencing extended dwell time. A call to action through a text response encourages commuters to immediately respond whilst undertaking their journey.

Rethink Mental Illness helps millions of people affected by mental illness by challenging attitudes and changing lives. Today Rethink directly supports almost 60,000 people every year across England.

Lee Dentith, CEO of Media Agency Group said:

“We are delighted to be working with Rethink Mental Illness in drawing attention to such an important issue. Advertising on train passenger panels is a great way to reach captive audiences who actively and willingly read and absorb adverts to break up the monotony of their journey. We are confident that the design of the adverts, combined with the powerful positioning, will make for a highly effective and successful campaign.”

Nigel Campbell, Associate Director of Communications and Marketing for Rethink Mental Illness said:

“Providing a platform for people affected by mental illness to tell their story is one of the most important things we can do to help challenge attitudes, change lives and campaign for fairness. This public transport campaign is part of afully integrated +20 initiative spanning web, social media, PR, community engagement and activism which we hope will raise awareness of the issues and lead to better care for people with mental illness.”