LONDON: More brands and media owners are allying themselves with social issues, including mental health which is a particular problem among younger people.

As part of that, yesterday saw a unique execution during Mental Health Awareness Week when the BBC and commercial radio stations joined forces to broadcast the same message at the same time about the importance of mental health.

The Mental Health Awareness minute included two royal princes and stars of stage, screen, sport and music delivering their message to one of radio’s biggest ever collective audiences.

“As well as providing company and fun, radio can be an important lifeline for listeners,” said Radiocentre CEO Siobhan Kenny. “It is therefore an obvious choice for us all to come together to talk about the things that matter most in our lives.”

Elsewhere, Beano Studios, the children’s entertainment franchise that has grown out of the original print comic, has linked up with Young Minds, a mental health charity that has found as many as one in three children in every classroom has a diagnosable mental health disorder.

“We’re a super positive brand and we want to inspire kids with optimism and positivity, as well as a bit of mischief, so we looked for a charity partner who shared that philosophy and works to make kids’ lives happier,” said Iain Sawbridge, Beano Studios CMO.

“I also think there’s something in the DNA of the Beano characters,” he told Marketing Week. “They’re joyously and happily imperfect, and we feel strongly that kids should embrace that feeling.”

Brands aimed at an older audience have also addressed mental health issues, including the “toxic masculinity” that results in many young men being unhappy and contemplating suicide. (For more details read WARC’s report: Breaking out of the Man Box with Axe and Topman.)

Axe, the deodorant, has adopted a new strategy that is far removed from its earlier approach and which seeks to reassure its audience that “it’s OK to screw up”, while Lynx, the UK version of Axe, partnered with CALM, a charity dedicated to raising awareness of the disturbing statistic that suicide is the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK.

Sourced from Radiocentre, Marketing Week; additional content by WARC staff