Meet Mike Williams: a seasoned creative leader and one of the original creative forces behind the Ad Council's “Love, Your Mind” campaign. An ambitious national effort, “Love, Your Mind” aims to help millions of Americans rethink their relationship with mental health, and was developed with lead partner Huntsman Mental Health Foundation and additional support from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.
By blending emotional storytelling with culturally relevant messaging tailored to specific communities, Mike helped shape a campaign grounded in deep audience insights and designed to resonate with the nearly 70 million adults in the U.S. who may be struggling but reluctant to seek support.
In our conversation, Mike shares the thinking behind the work and why it’s essential to encourage people to prioritize their mental health.
Vanja Pantic: Can you talk a little bit about your background and what led you to this type of work?
Mike Williams: I've spent over 20 years leading creative across brand marketing, advertising and promotions: from a multicultural agency, to branded content, to creative lead at a major network, to executive creative director at FCB New York, and now at Klick, where I've moved into health.
Across every stop, the throughline has been the same: I want creativity to drive progress and impact, not just attention. So when the opportunity came to work on a platform addressing mental health, it didn't feel like a departure from my career, it felt like the natural next step in it.
It also connected to something personal happening in my life at that time that tested the state of my own mental health, and it made the work feel less like a brief and more like something I needed to help others navigate too. Understanding how culture, identity and lived experience shape the way people receive a message has always been central to how I approach creative, and it was exactly the skill set this campaign needed.
VP: What excited you most about this assignment, to design a campaign to help shift culture around mental health?
MW: Being part of the audience segment we were initially speaking to made this personal. I understood the challenges we face, and I felt it was my responsibility to help create something that didn't just call out the problem but also started the healing by normalizing mental health and offering real solutions.
What excited me most was the chance to reframe the conversation entirely. So much messaging around mental health, especially for men, either leans into struggle or focuses on dismantling toxic masculinity, both of which can turn an audience off before you've even reached them. I was excited to try something different: show people the benefit, not the burden, of taking care of their minds.
VP: “Love, Your Mind” reframes mental health as a relationship between you and your mind—how did that creative territory come to life in those early brainstorms?
MW: It came from research, honestly. We uncovered that our audience defines success through their relationships with family, friends, coworkers. Once we saw that, the pathway became clear: your mind is your most valuable asset to that success, so why not treat it the way you'd treat any relationship that matters to you? That reframe, from “mental health is a weakness” to “mental health as your greatest asset,” became the strategic and creative foundation.
The idea took the shape of a letter, because a letter is intimate. It's direct. Whether it showed up as film, print, OOH, radio or influencer content, the substance stayed the same: your mind, writing to you, asking for love, attention and partnership. It took a lot of hands to shepherd that idea through every team and partner it touched, and I'm grateful for every one of them.
VP: Let's talk a little about scaling the campaign. “Love, Your Mind” has evolved into a flexible platform brought to life across multiple audiences, partnerships, media and trusted messengers—how did you set out to make the original idea so extendable?
MW: We built in flexibility to speak to niche audiences in a culturally relevant way, which meant testing the work with diverse cross-sections of the intended audience, having it authenticated by healthcare professionals, and scrutinizing it with people who had lived experience. Data showed that Black and Latino men were over-represented in our target audience. Starting with work tailored to them wasn’t a limitation—it was a foundation, because if the idea could resonate deeply and specifically there, we knew it could extend to other communities as the campaign grew.
VP: Now onto impact. "Love, Your Mind" has received more than $133M in donated media support and those who are aware of the campaign are more likely to prioritize their mental health. For you, what moments or feedback made you realize the campaign was truly resonating with people?
MW: It was hearing peoples’ testimonies. Listening to stories from people across all walks of life who were struggling with their mental health was powerful, and in a real way, spiritual. I felt connected to people I'd never met. Their conviction to feel better gave me hope.
It also showed up in the numbers: millions of people visiting our website and hundreds of thousands engaging with our educational resources. There was also a meaningful shift in how our target segment thinks about seeking help, with more of them agreeing that reaching out is a sign of strength, not weakness.
VP: For agencies and creatives working in the social impact space, what does “Love, Your Mind” teach us about how creativity can play a role in addressing complex social issues?
MW: It teaches you to lead with empathy first, strategy second; though really, they should be the same thing. We approached people as they are, not as a problem to be fixed. We gave people credit for the work they're already doing to take care of themselves, even in small ways. Creativity in this space isn't about dramatizing struggle; it's about acknowledging truth and pointing toward possibility.
When you're honest about where people are and respectful of what they're already carrying, the work has a much better chance of actually reaching them, not just being seen, but felt.
VP: What advice would you give to creatives who want to develop work that has both cultural relevance and lasting impact?
MW: Do the research, and then let people, not just data, shape the work. Cultural relevance isn't a translation exercise; it's understanding the nuances, the lived experience, the specific reasons a community might be hesitant to engage with your message. Build a team that reflects the audience you're trying to reach, and don't be afraid to have hard conversations about your differences and similarities along the way.
And remember: no one solves a societal issue single-handedly, and the best creative work in this space reflects that: it's built in partnership, tested with humility, and rooted in genuinely wanting to help people move forward.