This post was adapted from Unlock Health’s The Link newsletter. Subscribe to The Link to get insights like this directly in your inbox.
You never miss a birthday for the one you miss
What’s going on?
U.K. charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) launches a deeply moving campaign using a simple yet powerful image: birthday balloons.
Sensitive content: The following discusses suicide. Help is available through the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
Birthdays are milestones that mark a new stage of life, often accompanied by celebrations. But for too many, these moments are cut tragically short, leaving families and friends with only memories. Suicide remains a global public health crisis. In the U.S. alone, nearly 50,000 people die by suicide every year. Among people age 10-34, suicide is the second leading cause of death, with higher rates seen in vulnerable groups such as women, minorities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As September marks Suicide Prevention Month, organizations like the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) increase their focus on awareness, education, and support for mental health. However, CALM’s “Missed Birthdays” campaign takes a more personal, visceral approach to the conversation, centering the emotional weight of a missed birthday.
Imagine walking past a sea of bright, colorful birthday balloons. Instead of representing joy, each tells a heartbreaking story. It’s a striking visual metaphor that connects with viewers emotionally, taking an object so universally associated with happiness and showing its absence in the lives of those lost to suicide. This is what makes the campaign so impactful: It transforms something mundane into a silent, haunting symbol of a void left behind.
In marketing, simplicity can be incredibly effective, and this campaign proves that a single, well-chosen visual can carry an immense amount of weight. The emotional impact of the balloon imagery resonates long after the campaign is over, reinforcing a critical message: more awareness, more support, and more action can help save lives — preventing countless missed birthdays in the future.
Photo credit: CALM, adam&eveDDB
What’s The Link?
There’s only one side to this story: Mental health is healthcare.
By blending emotional storytelling with a focus on prevention and community-building efforts, healthcare marketing can be both impactful and meaningful. According to research from Harvard Business School, 95% of purchasing decisions are driven by emotion. This makes emotional appeals essential in healthcare, where decisions are often based on feelings of trust, security, and care. Below are a few key takeaways when using emotion to influence decision making, especially for mental healthcare:
- Keep it simple: Healthcare marketing often aims to humanize medical conditions, treatments, or health challenges by telling emotionally resonant stories. Simple imagery, like the balloons in CALM’s campaign, allows audiences to quickly grasp the emotional significance without needing complex explanations. In healthcare, where issues like mental health can be sensitive or stigmatized, using uncomplicated visuals enables marketers to create an emotional impact immediately. Breaking the stigma provides a safe environment for consumers to take the first step.
- Build trust and relationships: Creating campaigns that foster supportive provider-patient relationships, as well as peer-to-peer support, allows healthcare brands to position their services as tools for creating healthier communities through a collective effort. According to the Unlock Consumer Compass™, 73% of consumers define the quality of their healthcare experience based on how they are made to feel during their treatment. Early engagement with tools like health risk assessments (HRAs) can help consumers begin their healthcare journey with their healthcare provider.
- Provide accessible options: For those that are ready to seek help, having an easily accessible program and/or resources is essential to their follow-through. Studies from RTI and Psychology.org found that behavioral health patients are 3.5 times more likely to go out of network than for medical visits, and one-third of therapists do not accept insurance. Increasing accessibility allows for earlier intervention and better health outcomes. Tools like Unlock Health’s HRAs and consumer-focused health content can help ensure providers offer a clear path to care.
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