2.1: Research & Analyses

For our next lesson in PR Publications, we’ve been tasked with analyzing, researching, and designing a business card and letterhead for an organization of our choice. After considering several topics and groups, I’ve chosen to work with Mental Health America of Greater Houston, or MHA Houston, which focuses on mental health information and services for Houston, TX and its suburbs.

Almost everyone in my family deals with, or has dealt with, clinical depression, anxiety, and other co-morbid mental disorders—myself included. Since childhood, I’ve been aware of the immense impact these illnesses have on people, how difficult it is to find good treatment, and how uninformed some people are about mental disorders in general. It’s difficult to blame anyone for misunderstanding mental disorders, especially considering how young psychiatry and psychology are; in fact, we hardly understand what’s happening in the human brain at all. All of these things considered, I am deeply invested in promoting mental health awareness.

Organization Analysis – MHA Houston

What is your organization’s mission? What are your organization’s most dominant attitudes and core values?

According to their public mission statement, MHA Houston aims to “enhance the mental health of all Houstonians and improve the lives of those with mental illnesses” via “education, outreach and advocacy.” Specifically, it aims to provide up-to-date information on mental illness for the community, assist people by finding proper treatment, and advocate for drastic upgrades to public mental health services in legislation. MHA Houston aims to support all facets of mental health, but it seems to focus on mental health and community, first and foremost. While they offer great resources for individual care and research, their front page features numerous community events for groups, such as school-age children and veterans, in addition to general advocacy events.

Competitor Analysis – MHMRA

Who is its main competitor? How does your organization differ from its competitors? How should your organization’s image and message differ from its competitors?

Despite Houston being an enormous city with millions of residents, few active organizations like MHA Houston exist nearby. MHA itself has a larger, Texas-wide branch, and the state of Texas has some mental health information on its website, but in general, the field lacks competition.

It appears the primary competitor would be the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County (MHMRA), which states similar goals. Unfortunately, it uses dated terminology within the organization name, which I can only assume hurts their ability project an image of progressive mental health care. I actually considered tackling MHMRA at first, but I determined the challenge of renaming the organization was beyond the scope of the class and my skills.

MHA Houston maintains a clean public image and feels much smoother compared to MHMRA. MHA Houston’s identity looks welcoming and friendly, whereas MHMRA’s brand looks more clinical and detached. MHA Houston needs to continue with its strong, community-centric branding and avoid highly clinical approaches, especially when approaching people with mental disorders—professional friendliness is key.

Visual Analysis

Letterheads and business cards, in particular, need to address a professional audience. I imagine a pattern using the MHA Houston blue and orange color scheme would be a subtle, visually interesting way to express the positive energy of the organization, even throughout the rest of the brand. Humanist sans serifs such as Gill Sans or Adelle Sans are more expressive sans serifs without straying from legibility and serves this type of human-focused brand well.

I will be late submitting my Pinterest board and drafts, so I will provide these in a new post!