Paloma JacomeWhen Mental Health Awareness Meets Marketing... We get a Moment or a Movement?
More often we see brands commercializing mental health. It’s in campaign slogans. It’s in packaging copy. It’s in Super Bowl ads and TikTok influencer captions.
Increasingly, people are listening and looking deeper.
According to Ogilvy, 73% of global consumers say wellness should be central to a brand’s mission. And over half (52%) now expect even* non-health brands* (banks, airlines, phone companies, etc.) to offer wellness solutions.
So the question isn’t whether brands should talk about mental health. The question is: How are brands closing the wellness gap?
The Cultural Shift (From: Stigma // To: Strategy)
Mental health awareness used to live on the fringes. Now, it’s driving consumer expectations, creative direction, and corporate responsibility.
This mental wellness movement is being led by Millennials and Gen Z alike - two generations increasingly unapologetic about prioritizing their emotional well-being.
And can you blame them?
We’re living in what futurists call a BANI world (Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, and Incomprehensible). The old rulebook for how to stay grounded, productive, or even hopeful… doesn’t hold up anymore.
For young people especially, the uncertainty is not hypothetical, it’s personal:
- Economic precarity is their predictability.
- Burnout is a recurring state.
- And climate change isn’t a distant threat, it’s a daily emotional weight.
In fact, nearly 60% of youth globally say they feel “very or extremely worried” about climate change. 1 in 5 U.S. teens say they’re unsure if they even want to have children. That’s not a marketing insight, it’s a mental health crisis.
And yet, in the face of all this, Gen Z and Millennials are still showing up, for themselves, for each other, and for culture. They're calling out what hurts and harms. They’re pushing for systems that heal. And they’re expecting the brands they support to do the same and make it easier for them to do so.
For them, self-care isn’t vanity, it’s strategy. Mental health isn’t a soft topic, it’s core to resilience in a chaotic world.
So when brands enter this space, the bar is higher than ever. The question is no longer “Should we say something?” It’s “Are we saying anything meaningful AND are we backing it with action?”
Brands That Are Doing It Differently
Some forward-thinking companies have made mental wellness a core part of their brand experience:
Dove x Nike – Body Confident Sport
Supporting teenage girls with body image resources, emotional support, and confidence through movement. A true intersection of physical + mental health in action.
Headspace & Calm – Everyday Mental Health Tools
Once niche meditation apps, now wellness juggernauts. Their accessible approach to stress, sleep, and anxiety has reframed what mental care looks like and who it's for.
Lululemon – Turning Stores Into Safe Spaces
Some forward-thinking brands and retailers are reimagining the in-store experience not just as a sales environment, but as a sanctuary. Take Lululemon, for example. The brand has invested in transforming select store locations into community-based wellness hubs: hosting in-store meditation sessions, breathwork classes, and even grief support circles in collaboration with local facilitators. They’ve also trained employees in emotional first aid and active listening, giving staff the tools to better respond to shoppers who may be overwhelmed, anxious, or just… human.
The Intention-Action Gap in Mental Wellness (The Wellness Gap)
At grounded, we often talk about the intention-action gap: The space between what brands say they believe… and what they actually do.
It’s especially visible in the wellness space:
- Campaigns say "you are enough," while products still promote perfection.
- Brand values include mental health, but employee benefits don’t.
- Messaging celebrates self-care, but operations drive burnout.
The wellness gap is real and consumers are taking notes.
Grounded Case Study: Indivior – Making Recovery Humanly Possible
As a strategic partner to purpose-led brands, we’ve helped our clients navigate this exact tension:
- How to speak on mental health without centering trauma.
- How to embed wellness into product strategy.
- How to co-create programs with actual communities, not assumptions.
Because here’s the truth: Mental health isn’t a campaign. It’s a commitment. And when brands get it right, they don’t just gain credibility... they build trust, loyalty, and real impact.
Take our work with Indivior, a global leader in addiction recovery.
Together, we helped shift their narrative from purely pharmaceutical to deeply human with a bold, brand-wide platform called “Humanly Possible.”
We spotlighted personal stories from employees with lived experience, re-centered compassion in the conversation around opioid use disorder, and created a messaging framework that reframed addiction as a treatable illness (not a moral failing).
Because you can’t talk about mental health in culture without also talking about stigma, systemic harm, and the quiet courage of recovery.
This is the kind of storytelling that doesn’t just raise awareness -> it changes culture.
And that’s the space we choose to build in every day.
A Call to Do More - Mindfully
Mental Health Awareness Month isn’t the time to say “we care” without showing how. It’s the time to act with depth, with courage, and with a clear commitment to culture-shifting change.
- Revisit your brand promises and purpose
- Audit your internal practices
- Prioritize real emotional support (for consumers and your teams)
We’re living in a moment where mental wellness is no longer a nice-to-have.. it’s a business imperative. And brands that lead with honesty, care, and community are setting the new standard.
At grounded, we’ve seen what’s possible when brands step into this space with intention. Our work with Indivior showed that even in high-stakes, high-stigma industries, it’s not only possible to show up with empathy, it’s essential!
The future of brand strategy is emotionally intelligent, radically human, and deeply grounded**.**
See what we did there?
Saying you care is easy. Closing the gap? Not so much. Let’s make your messaging actually *work. *It’s time to Get Grounded.
