Improving the mental health of South Florida

South Florida Behavioral Health Network is a highly efficient network of providers in Miami Dade and Monroe Counties. They promote access to care for individuals and families with mental illnesses and substance use disorders by managing over 90 million dollars of Federal funding through a local system of providers. The stigma surrounding Mental Health and the lack of access to helpful resources is a national and very local crisis. Since 2006 the network has been highly efficient in its mission by mostly working behind the scenes with little support or funding beyond the federal dollars for providers. Organizational and cultural shifts within and surrounding this brand and an evolving landscape of need provided the organization with the insight to expand its audience and shift its brand outward to be best prepared for the future. We were approached to help the organization analyze and position its brand equity and to provide strategies and tools to help it make this vital transition.

Transitioning from an internally focused brand to one that engages the outside world requires a deep understanding of the organization’s value to the community it serves. It also involved cultural shifts and preparing the internal teams for the new challenges and opportunities with interacting with the public. Through research, we understood the state of mental health in national and global communities and an objective and honest analysis of the function, role, and perceptions of the network. This enabled us to provide brand-focused recommendations to transition the positioning (visual, verbal, and experiential), communication, service, and other touch points. South Florida Behavioral Health Network (a descriptive but benign, institutional name) became the approachable, human-focused Thriving Mind | South Florida. The strategic design transitions extended to the brand identity, website, communication pieces, and an external messaging campaign.