Creating America’s First Mental Health Advocacy Brand

For far too long, America’s government and healthcare system have struggled to adequately attend to America’s vast mental health needs. In the Spring of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic fueled unprecedented levels of stress and suffering, Civitas Public Affairs was rapidly building a new organization that could fight for the mental health policy America needs to heal. 

Civitas engaged Mighty Good to help build a brand that would both honor their team’s passion for this issue and engage a wide audience of potential advocates.

The Dual Concepts of Inseparable

The name Inseparable embodies two concepts fundamental to the organization’s messaging: 1. The widely shared belief that we support others who are struggling with their mental health, and this is an issue on which we cannot be separated into political camps; and 2. The fact that mental health and physical health are intertwined, and therefore should stop being treated unequally. 

“We” not “Me”

Despite the widespread prevalence of mental health challenges, and despite important progress in normalizing conversation around mental health issues, the topic remains stigmatized in much of American culture. So, to create a campaign that would make room for everyone impacted by mental health to feel safe championing the issue, we built a brand grounded in the concept of taking action to take care of others. Not a “me” brand, but a “we” brand. The call to arms for the brand became: “We need to take better care of each other, and we need to do it right now: by demanding mental health policy that better cares for us all.”

Inseparable launched in May, 2020. In its first months, the brand, including its core messaging and often its graphics, has received significant media coverage in top-tier news platforms (Today Show, MSNBC, USA Today). And in May of 2021, Inseparable was named “Winner, Best Campaign Response to COVID-19” by Campaigns & Elections’ Reed Awards. 

“For so long, the mental health community has struggled to find the language we need to take us where we want to go. With Inseparable, we got to the core of it. Simply. Effectively. Powerfully. It has made all the difference. It works beautifully for us every day.”

-- Bill Smith, Founder, Inseparable

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