How agency Cactus is helping the world to understand men’s mental health
Winning Gold at The Drum Awards for Agency Business in the Health and Well-Being category is Cactus. Here's how, in its own words, it launched and relaunched an array of initiatives to address a crisis in men’s mental health.
How Cactus won the Health and Wellbeing gong at the 2024 Drum Awards / Credit: Cactus
The inner workings of the mind is the milieu of our agency, Cactus. We tinker and toil, working to improve the things that make us tick. You simply won’t find another agency, anywhere, of any size, that’s as deeply committed to advancing the cause of mental health and wellbeing as Cactus.
For a decade plus, Cactus has worked tirelessly to destigmatize mental illness with pioneering work and breakthrough creative campaigns in the mental health space. This includes Man Therapy, the world’s first brand and digital platform focused on combating suicide among working age men. Pairing an evidence-based behavior change model with a unique creative approach that taps into how real guys actually talk to each other, we’re changing the ways men think about their own mental health. Over 2 million men have visited the site; 525,000 have taken the 20-point "Head Inspection", and 45,000 have used the red phone button to immediately connect to life-saving crisis services.
Following the success of Man Therapy, Cactus also launched an in-house health technology company, Grit Digital Health. With a tech team of 20 including a full-time behavioral health clinician on staff, Grit’s portfolio of wellbeing products includes apps and desktop utilities that help university students, veterans, and first responders take care of their mental health. Grit adds a next-level technology layer to the creative behavior change campaigns Cactus has always been known for.
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We’ve applied those learnings to our agency team by building a personalized wellbeing portal called You@Cactus. It's designed to help our employees look after their mental health. We released a free version of the tool to the advertising industry, You@Agency.
Mental Health Awareness Month and beyond
How do you raise awareness during Mental Health Awareness Month? Film people talking about it and put it on the internet, naturally. Every May, we produce ‘Frame of Mind’, a video conversation series hosted by Cactus founder and chief executive, Joe Conrad.
This year, we focused on the advertising industry, asking leaders, “How are you taking care of the mental health of the employees who take care of your clients?” We talked to higher-ups at Mischief, Preacher, BarkleyOKRP, Marcus Thomas, DNA, FIG, and even the 4As. Thoughtful, challenging, and enlightening conversations ensued. This sparked in-person panel discussions both at Advertising Week NY and the 4As Advancing Talent conference. We’re honored to lead these conversations and keep this critical issue in the spotlight.
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Man Therapy and Moonshot For Mankind
Our first-of-its-kind Man Therapy platform was showing the signs of age (mostly around the midsection and neck skin). So with our partners at Grit Digital Health, we got the old guy back into shape, making big updates to the look and feel while improving user experience. Cactus rolled out fresh, new creative campaigns to get more manly minds and eyeballs to the site - targeting vertical industries that over-index for at-risk men, like construction trades and commercial fishing.
Men in the US are living shorter, sicker lives than women. They die younger and in greater numbers from 9 of the top 10 causes of death. Suicide rates can be 3 to 4 times higher for men. It’s also exactly the kind of challenge Cactus tackles head on. We joined forces with legendary men’s health expert Jed Diamond to launch ‘Moonshot for Mankind’. Here’s how it works: We support men’s mental, relational, and emotional health. Men pledge to live healthier, more connected, and purposeful lives. Families grow stronger and communities prosper, so humanity can take the next great leap forward.
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