Innocean Worldwide's New Campaign Raises Awareness of Anxiety in People with Parkinson’s

A digital marketing campaign, created by Innocean Worldwide and Parkinson’s UK, has successfully boosted awareness of anxiety as a symptom of Parkinson’s for the first time.

Anxiety is one of more than 40 symptoms of the condition. It affects around a third of the 145,000-people living with Parkinson’s in the UK, however overall awareness of this symptom within the general public was low at around 34% - compared with 86% for the condition’s well-recognised tremor.

The Anxious Brain campaign, launched at the end of May, challenged its audience to re-think Parkinson’s by illustrating how it impacts on mental health – resulting in a three per cent increase in awareness of anxiety as a symptom (to 37%).

Based on research that has shown how chemical changes in the brain of those with Parkinson’s can make it harder to cope with stressful thoughts, the campaign was rolled out with a series of 20 second videos on Instagram Stories and Facebook Instream – both new channels for Parkinson’s UK.

Inspired by anxiety caused by hyper-connectivity in the digital age, the adverts showed how daily activities, such as going to the gym or cooking, can lead to a downward spiral of anxiety via distressing phone notifications.

To strengthen the charity’s message, ‘Parkinson’s is more than the shakes’, Innocean Worldwide went further and used digital OOH billboards in popular shopping centres and train stations across London to convey how anxiety can occur in these everyday situations. 

Hannah Dedman, Head of Marketing at Parkinson’s UK, said: “We often hear from people with Parkinson’s that they struggle with the mental health symptoms of the condition, like anxiety, but most people are unaware that Parkinson’s is anything more than a tremor. We wanted people to know that the condition is so much more than the shakes. 

“Innocean understood the significance of this brief and worked closely with our team to create a unique campaign that targeted new mediums to reach our target audience and successfully increase awareness of anxiety as a symptom of Parkinson’s for the first time.”

Michael Herbert, General Manager at Innocean Worldwide, said: “We are immensely proud to have been a part of this campaign. The positive results are a testament to the strong relationship we have with Parkinson’s UK and the creative talent here at Innocean.”