The Leith Agency wins See Me campaign after five-way pitch
Anti stigma, mental health campaign ‘See Me’ has announced the appointment of The Leith Agency as its new marketing agency.
Following a five-way pitch, which is understood to have included incumbent The Gate Worldwide as well as The Union, Barkers and The Bridge, See Me has tasked the agency to work alongside its in-house team to deliver the next aspect of its campaign.
The Leith will also work with its sister agencies Stripe Communications and Blonde digital as it looking to challenge the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness.
The campaign, which was launched in 2002, is owned and run by an alliance of five Scottish mental health organisations - Highland Users Group, National Schizophrenia Fellowship (Scotland), Penumbra; Royal College of Psychiatrists (Scottish Division) and Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH). The campaign is fully funded by the Scottish Government.
Brian Coane, account director at The Leith Agency, commented: “Our challenge is to develop a highly successful integrated campaign that moves ‘see me’ forward, yet retains its focus on the real lives of the one-in-four of us who'll experience mental ill-health.”
Suzie Vestri, campaign director for the campaign, explained: “The next two years is a very exciting phase for ‘see me’ so it was vital that we work with an agency that not only recognises the importance of the next chapter, but can also take the campaign in a fresh, new direction. The Leith Agency demonstrated a high level of creativity, savvy and enthusiasm, not to mention great vision.”
She continued: “We’d like to thank our previous agency, The Gate, for helping to get us to where we are to today, but look forward to refreshing our activity with The Leith Agency.”
Pete Martin, creative director at The Gate, commented: “It’s been a privilege working with See Me. It was a ground-breaking issue. See Me was virtually a lone voice when we started. We’re proud of the way the campaign developed, and of the international recognition it received. There are still big challenges ahead. Stigma and social isolation remain part of a vicious cycle where mental healthcare costs the NHS about twice as much as cancer care. With England’s £18 million Time-to-Change initiative weighing in now, a bold approach may not be a bad thing.
"We certainly wish the team every success and hope to see the campaign build from strength to strength.”