Australians for Mental Health shines light on treatment wait times
Grassroots advocacy organisation Australians for Mental Health (AFMH) has launched an integrated campaign to shine a light on the long wait times Australians experience when waiting for mental health treatment.
‘Holding out for Help’ was created by AFMH in collaboration with Bantam, production company Scoundrel and Rumble Studios.
The integrated campaign includes TVC, OOH, print and social and calls Australians to sign AFMH’s petition for greater government funding and mental health reform.
The TVC features eerie scenes of individuals with mental ill-health waiting for support, with shots of waitees hopelessly waiting for help that never seems to come. The shots plays under a hold line that says ‘we apologise for the delay, your estimated weight time is two to three years’. The voice over explains that ‘this is the soundtrack to the lives of millions of Australians with mental illness’, as the hold line starts to glitch and speed up. The TVC finishes on a call out for viewers to sign the petition on Holding Out for Help website.
Another key element of the campaign hold lines, playing on the wait time that Australians seeking mental health support experience. For this element of the campaign AFMH worked with dance duo Peking Duck’s Reuben Styles to develop a library of free hold music for businesses to use.
Each track is embedded with messages from Styles highlighting the fact that while customers wait on hold, millions suffering from mental ill-health are waiting for help too. Styles ask Australian to turn their ‘hold’ time into ‘help’ time and end the wait for people suffering from mental ill-health by signing the petition.
An example of the creative for social.
Insurer AIA Australia is a key supporter of the campaign and will utilise the hold music for its customer service phone channels. The tracks are also available for free for businesses with a One Music license to access and download.
An example of the outdoor execution.
Chris Raine, campaign director at AfMH, said: “Australia’s mental health system is overstretched, leaving millions of Aussies with mental health issues waiting for treatment, unsure when or if, help may come.
“Our library of hold music is free to every Australian business and with Aussies listening to 90 million hours of hold music a year, we think it’s an incredible channel to reach the nation, at the exact moment it will really hit home.
“We’re proud to launch the campaign with AIA Australia and share our message with their 3.8 million customers. We hope other Aussie businesses follow suit in turning their hold music into help music.”
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topics
Australians for Mental Health
Bantam Communications
Chris Raine
Peking Duk
Reuben Styles
Rumble Studios
Scoundrel
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