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The challenge
Priory is well known for providing outstanding support for people with complex mental health and addiction needs. They are less well known for providing everyday care such as 1:1 therapy.
Priory is one of the UK's most recognised private mental health providers, but far fewer people associate the brand with support for anxiety and depression – the needs that affect the greatest number of people.
Priory asked ZPB to build on the momentum of the Break the chain campaign, which explored the impact of intergenerational addiction, and broaden public perceptions of Priory beyond higher-acuity care, to a wider range of mental health needs, without diluting their core specialist credentials.
said they felt “constantly” anxious, depressed or overwhelmed
47%
Our research found that the accumulation of everyday modern pressures – cost of living, work, relationships, world events – is wearing people down, driving many to feel anxiety and depression with 47% of people we surveyed stating they felt “constantly” anxious, depressed or overwhelmed in the last year. 59% said news and social media content negatively impacts their mental health every week
However, we also found that despite mental health being talked about more than ever, this has not translated into confidence with how to start getting help. Feeling embarrassed or ashamed is still the single biggest reason people delay seeking support, over practical barriers like long waiting times.
Choosing therapy also assumes energy, confidence, and knowledge of the options, at a point that people are often coming to with exhaustion: "I don't have the energy to find a therapist, let alone decide what therapy is right for me."
The insight
As part of the creative process, Priory patients, residents and staff were invited to visualise what everyday pressure feels like to them, and their artwork formed the heart of the brief for illustrator Scotty Gillespie. His hand-drawn animation follows a commuter watching their worries reflected back in a train window, until the view clears and the journey continues, the voice over explaining how Priory helped them to find their way. The integrated campaign ran across London and the South East, anchored by a landing page positioning Priory's initial assessment as a low-friction first step.
The creative
In a nationally representative brand tracker of 2000 UK adults, pre- and post-campaign,
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Familiarity with Priory's services across the UK rose by 9 percentage points – with a total increase of 16 percentage points from before Break the chain, to now.
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Those who saw the campaign were:
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1.7x more likely to consider Priory as a provider of anxiety or depression support than those who hadn’t.
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3x more likely to say they were very likely to choose them.
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5x less likely to rule Priory out as an option for support.
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1.8x more likely to believe Priory offers affordable options.
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Recognition of Priory as a provider of one-to-one therapy offer grew by 14 percentage points from before to after the campaign, whilst recognition of Priory for its specialist inpatient, psychiatry, and addiction services held firm.
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Earned media secured 34 pieces of national and regional coverage, with every piece carrying campaign data and more than four in five featuring a Priory patient story.
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The results
1.7x
more likely to consider Priory
34
pieces of earned media
200k+
clicks
3.4m
views or listens
Two campaigns in, the pattern is clear: insight-led communications have moved audiences from name recognition to understanding strengthening perceptions of the Priory brand’s expertise, relevance, and accessibility.
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