SITUATION: Mental illness affects veterans at a disproportionately higher rate. While effective treatment programs exist, veterans tend not to seek or receive the care they need. Many struggle with isolation and experience countless barriers before they even understand they need help. Wounded Warrior Project wanted a lead generation vs. retargeting campaign to reach back out to veterans who could benefit from their services but hadn’t fully committed. We needed a way to re-engage these veterans to have them take action during their mental health journey.

SOLUTION: We believed authentic stories of veterans who got the help they needed would appeal to our target audience on a very personal level. That meant getting veterans to talk about sensitive subjects like mental health, PTSD, and invisible wounds vs. physical wounds. We learned to be flexible—and gentle—guiding them on set so they would be comfortable enough to open up and talk about their experiences. The true power of the campaign is the vulnerability these warriors allowed to be shared, so that others might get the help they need.