What's Up With Everyone

Agency: Aardman on behalf of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)

ilk was appointed by Aardman, the multi Academy Award®-winning independent studio and creators of Wallace & Gromit, to promote its new mental health campaign, What's Up With Everyone. The campaign formed part of a research project commissioned and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and was developed in partnership with research teams at Nottingham University, Loughborough University, and the London School of Economics and Politics; the Mental Health Foundation; mental wellbeing charity, Happy Space; and with young people's mental health expert, Dominique Thompson.

ilks brief was to develop a communications strategy around the campaign's creative; a series of short films aimed at positively impacting the mental wellbeing of young people aged 17-24. Through this series, What's Up With Everyone introduces five characters, each of whom is contending with one of the most common issues negatively impacting young people according to the campaign's research. Each of these videos is also hosted on the campaign's website, alongside content designed to offer support for young people struggling with their mental health.

Through PR, influencer marketing, social media engagement and digital advertising, the campaign reached over 4.5 million people and drove over 31,000 young people to its website where they could use its helpful information to tackle any mental health struggles. From a teaser on ITN news to posts by Ovie Soko and Jaime Windust and a retweet from Stephen Fry, the campaign fulfilled the whole team's ambitions for the project, smashing a variety of objectives along the way.