Marketing therapy

This year, mental health has risen rapidly up the agenda of marketing leaders.

But what is the unique contribution that our profession can make to improve the nation’s mental health?

According to the ‘Time to Change’ campaign, around one in four people will experience a mental health problem in 2017.

And, of course, when a quarter of the population experiences mental health problems, we are all affected by them.

So each of us has a role to play in creating an environment that supports people in coping with their experiences or in accessing the right expert and emergency help when things take a more serious turn.

But why is this agenda specifically one for marketers to take on?

Marketing can be a stressful career and can impact on the mental health of people pursuing it. Of course, this also applies to many other lines of work. As comedian and mental health campaigner Ruby Wax put it with typical bluntness when asked whether the pressures of a fast-paced career in marketing put marketers at particular risk...