Elevating the standard for mental health brands
Challenge
It’s no secret that COVID-19 increased humanity’s collective awareness of mental health. Suffice it to say; there’s no shortage of players trying to make a name for themselves in the space. But when we saw how Mind’s counterparts positioned themselves from a brand, messaging, and visual identity perspective, we were shocked by the ubiquity of cliché and frankly unrealistic representations of mental health. Consequently, we saw an opportunity for Mind to approach mental health from a genuinely novel perspective. One that didn’t relegate mental health to a form of weakness. One with genuine grassroots foundations. One where honesty, courage, and the innate complexity of human emotions could be celebrated front and centre.
Solution
When Canada’s premier virtual healthcare provider engaged Massive to help meet the rising market demand for specialty care options, we were intrigued. And when we realized that the company, Maple, was poised to build the blueprint for the future’s digital health models, we officially knew we were part of something pretty special. Maple is Canada’s most robust virtual healthcare platform. The company made its mark connecting Canadians with certified healthcare providers, 24/7, coast-to-coast. Now boasting 700,000+ active users and 500+ healthcare providers on their platform, you know they’re damn good at what they do. But with the virtual health market growing alongside rising demand for specialty care, Maple knew their brand—and sub-brands—needed to reach new heights. They were determined, with our guidance, to launch a series of microsites and accompanying sub-brands for various specialty areas. The first of these sub-specialties, Mind by Maple (Mind), was built to deliver Canadians the most seamless digital mental health platform and create a foundation for the industry’s future. Read on to see exactly how Massive helped Maple achieve this through an emotive, courageous, and human-centred brand identity. Elevating the standard for mental health brands It’s no secret that COVID-19 increased humanity’s collective awareness of mental health. Suffice it to say; there’s no shortage of players trying to make a name for themselves in the space. But when we saw how Mind’s counterparts positioned themselves from a brand, messaging, and visual identity perspective, we were shocked by the ubiquity of cliché and frankly unrealistic representations of mental health. Consequently, we saw an opportunity for Mind to approach mental health from a genuinely novel perspective. One that didn’t relegate mental health to a form of weakness. One with genuine grassroots foundations. One where honesty, courage, and the innate complexity of human emotions could be celebrated front and centre.
Results
Daring to be different As a group of creatives equally striving to maintain mental health, our team was keenly aware of the misconceptions around therapy. We jumped at the chance to help Maple craft a bold, relatable brand that tackles the stigma associated with it. A brand that calls a spade a spade: something that reflects a shared sense of empathy for the challenges human beings face while speaking to it in a new way. We presented three distinct brand identity concepts, each one pushing Mind into new territory. Our initial direction maintained Maple’s current brand look and feel, while concepts two and three distinguished Mind from competitors through a bold creative direction aimed squarely at tackling the stigmas associated with mental health. “The client was really looking to push the envelope visually from what their other brands were doing, so it was fun to work on a project that allowed for that kind of creativity. From the beginning, we had to establish a visual language that struck a delicate balance between depicting sensitive topics such as depression and anxiety with genuine respect for these real human issues, all while avoiding a brand laden with cliche imagery.” – Patricia Bernal, Designer First order of business: eschew the monotony which plagues the digital therapy space. We’re talking about cheesy/cliché stock photos of sad couples, comically angry faces, and “depressed” individuals in the fetal position. Where others rely on tropes that position mental health as something to be solved, Mind’s creative builds on the parent brand’s colour palette and typeface with bold imagery, strong headlines, silky smooth animations, and approachable, humanistic copy centred around the beautiful complexity that is human expression. A foundational website for future growth While accessibility, user experience (UX), and the backend authoring experience (AX) may not be the sexiest topics, they’re among the most critical in building a sustainable long-term foundation for new branded sites. Maple was no exception. With several additional sub-brands in their pipeline, they needed a user-friendly, open-source platform that facilitates brand unity and the ability to launch subsequent sub-brands to market quickly, without a huge investment in development. Our solutions were as follows: A fully custom WordPress theme, comprising branded modules and page templates, serving as the blueprint for future sub-brands as Maple grows. Deliver a consistent and intuitive user experience while offering enough creative flexibility to ensure each would have its own distinct identity. Adhere to stringent WCAG 2.1 AA web accessibility compliance standards to facilitate exceptional user experiences at every interaction. Equal access for individuals + businesses Mind by Maple’s strategy also included a distinct B2B offering aimed at employers looking to provide additional mental health resources to their employees. By providing equal access for individuals & businesses through their platform, Mind’s grasp as the dominant player in Canada’s mental health services industry would be strengthened even further. A second site geared towards employers was created, much like the first, but with a B2B twist Whereas the first site aimed at removing the barriers to accessing mental health and wellness, this site’s messaging communicated to employers how an investment in employees’ mental health is an investment in the future. Mind’s B2C site launched in August of 2021 with its B2B counterpart scheduled to launch in October 2021. Click here to see the Mind by Maple’s B2C and B2B sites in action and let us know what you think!
Massive Media
Massive is a branding and experience design agency for companies with ambition. We partner with solution-focused companies to achieve clarity, messaging and the technologies needed to thrive in the wild. Whether the end product is a new brand, digital advertising campaign, website or digital product, our approach centres on deep cultural...
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