An integrated marketing communications plan for Lifeline Rehabilitation Center

Lifeline Rehabilitation Center, or LRC, is a therapeutic community established in 2012 providing a holistic approach to modified treatment programs for people that need help with drug and alcohol abuse, as well as other behavioral services. LRC is comprised of mental health professionals and strong support groups that aim to help one another recover and become long-term productive citizens, with the advocacy of actively educating people on the importance of mental health wellness in the country through webinars and similar efforts. LRC faces two main challenges in its industry; first, the overall stigma on mental health; and second, its low brand awareness amongst its potential target market. A survey on LRC’s covered population was conducted to gauge its brand awareness, and findings show that 96.5% of respondents were not familiar with the brand. To mitigate this, the researcher created a brand building campaign using a cohesive content strategy in order to deliver a strong message towards the importance of mental health wellness. Furthermore, with the Mental Health Act passed in the senate in 2018, people are open to learning more about the subject, presenting a big opportunity to fight the stigma. Following the pandemic, Filipinos have become more aware of their mental health and are making an effort to maintain it, despite the stress of economic closure leading to unemployment, along with other social and mental challenges they experience. A study from Euromonitor International (2021) stated that the work-from-home setup is projected to continue, and while some employees find this agreeable, there are also those that are still trying to cope with it. As a result, there has been an increase in demand for mental health services in the country. This is especially apparent in the working sector, generally composed of LRC’s main target audience of working professionals ages 25 to 45, part of social classes A, B, and C, based in Metro Manila and Cavite. The main objective of this IMC plan is to help LRC position itself as an institution that not only serves patients with mental health illnesses but also advocates for mental health wellness. This will be a brand building campaign that aims to increase outpatient services, maintain a steady number of inpatient residents who understand the long-term solution to their problem, and build a safe community inside and outside the rehabilitation center. The researcher proposes a 3-phase campaign to increase brand awareness and credibility by telling a story with the 3 kinds of stigma, namely, (Phase 1) Internal, (Phase 2) External, and (Phase 3) Public stigma that Filipinos experience. While most mental health campaigns focus on encouraging people with mental health illness to offload their emotions onto friends and family that are potentially unprepared to provide support or advice, this campaign aims to shift the perspective and tell the story through a different lens by focusing on how people can support those experiencing mental health illness. This IMC campaign will be straightforward, utilizing the digitalization of the country. With most of the brand’s target market using social media, specifically Facebook for about 9 hours and more, using digital channels is essential for this campaign. With this, the researcher will apply a data-driven approach using the following metrics: audience growth, @ mention rate, social share of voice, and conversion rate. Along with social media marketing, the researcher has also strengthened the content strategy by adopting PR and partnership efforts, events management, SEO and website, and email marketing. With this campaign, the brand can expect to reach an 800% increase in audience growth. The total budget allocated for this 1 year campaign is PHP 70,000 and an additional 10% for the contingency fund