A unique collaboration between social enterprise, creative industry and education

In September 2022, the Tellmi mental health app collaborated with the advertising agency Dentsu to produce their first ever billboard advertising campaign. The project was part of a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Healthcare commission which tasked Tellmi with improving the mental health of young people from underserved communities in the Greenwich area. 

William Millner and Tom Bothwell, the creative team at Dentsu came up with a brilliant response to the brief:

“We wanted to put the real problems young people are dealing with at the heart of the campaign. These problems are bottled up every day for fear of stigma, or because they’re just too uncomfortable to discuss with a parent or teacher. We turned the most confronting and relatable real issues discussed on the app into unignorable headlines, reassuring people that if you can’t tell anyone else, you can Tellmi safely and anonymously. Combining these statements with bold typography and bright colours created a distinct set of posters we were confident would stand out on the streets of Greenwich.” 

The final set of posters appeared on bus shelters and digital billboards across Greenwich. The billboard advertising company JC Decaux launched the campaign on the 29th of August in time for the return to school in September and sites were specifically selected so that they were near schools and youth clubs where young people congregate. Dentsu produced all the creative work pro bono and Louis de Beauregard at JC Decaux persuaded the company to support the campaign by extending the run through to Mental Health Week in October for no charge. 

When the billboard campaign concluded, Dentsu then initiated an incredibly fruitful collaboration with Ravensbourne Art School in Greenwich. Will and Tom from Dentsu explain:

“Beyond the campaign, we saw this as an opportunity to engage a community of young people in Greenwich who might benefit from the app themselves. We partnered with the advertising department at Ravensbourne University to brief their third year students, who developed new ideas to engage the target audience, with some work being selected in a live pitch at the agency to become social content for Tellmi. It was really inspiring seeing these young minds tackling a problem so close to their hearts.”

Stephen Lloyd, the Course Leader on the Advertising & Brand Design jumped at the chance to work with one of the UK’s most successful advertising agencies to promote such an important cause. Stephen was really impressed by Will and Tom’s commitment to the project and to the students:

“At Ravensborne we aim to foster industry collaboration that can have meaningful benefits to both students and our industry partners. We also try to work with brands and organisations that are doing work for social good, so when Dentsu suggested we work with Tellmi it seemed like a great opportunity. What we didn’t realise until we started the work was just how responsive the team would be to the insights, opinions and ideas that the students put forward. With hindsight, involving young people in the communication of a product that’s set to transform mental health outcomes for young people should be obvious. But this requires a commitment of time and effort to build a true collaboration where all voices are heard and acted on and that’s not always the case.”

The Dentsu creative team spotted future hires and Tellmi is now working with four different creative teams to develop a set of social media campaigns from their ideas. The campaigns will be rolled out as paid advertising which will give the students the opportunity to see their ideas developed from concept through to delivery. Tellmi will share all the metrics with the teams so that they can see how many interactions and downloads came from their individual campaigns and the campaign that resonates best with young people will win a prize. 

On the 5th of November, nine creative teams from Ravensbourne pitched their final campaigns to Dentsu and Tellmi at the Dentsu headquarters in Great Portland Street. The event was an enormous success and everybody was really impressed by the creativity and enthusiasm of the students.

Stephen Lloyd, the Course Leader at Ravensbourne sums up the success of the collaboration: 

“This project has not only been a great success in giving students an opportunity to show what they are capable of but also to broaden their understanding of communication around mental health, and to see how the work they are doing can help affect a real positive change in the world. We look forward to seeing how the relationship develops and how we can continue to collaborate on projects that aim to change the world for the better.”

The SBRI project has had a huge impact in the community. Young people in Greenwich now benefit from access to free 365 day mental health support from peers, SuperPeers and counsellors, as well as a directory of over 600 crisis and specialist support services. The project has also provided creative opportunities and links to industry for Ravensbourne students. We are incredibly grateful to everyone that took part and Tellmi now hope to replicate this collaborative model in other parts of the country. If you would like to support a creative community project with Tellmi do get in touch.