Fighting the stigma: a unique approach to marketing mental health

Although stigma is a problem, there is a definite solution. As this material suggests, an impact can be made by targeting various markets. Since these markets have either positive, negative or neutral impressions of their local mental health organizations and related services, knowing the rating of the organization and related services helps to identify the most likely targets. Advertising can directly affect the strength of that rating in a positive direction. The extent of that effect, whether it's a change in attitude or level of recognition, will depend on the continuity of the message, the channels of communication, and synchronization of distribution. In addition, the degree of impact is contingent on how amenable the target audience is to the message. In the case of mental health, the lower level of acceptability presents an even greater challenge. The FTS project takes on the challenge with a marketing plan that is necessary because our publics say it's necessary. And it can work because, again, our publics say it works. The supporting evidence is more than just an increase in name recall and favorability factors. The supporting evidence results from any project which has been planned and implemented with the consumer in mind. Finally, the supporting evidence is clear in the interest and contributions of each participant in the FTS pilot as well as the 27 mental health organizations in 17 U.S. markets which have participated in FTS 11.