BARMER

Objectives

Creating real impact around mental health

As one of the largest health insurance providers in Germany, BARMER set out to address a growing and urgent challenge: more and more young people are experiencing mental health crises, while friends and family often feel powerless to help.

With its campaign Mentale Erste Hilfe (Mental First Aid), BARMER sought to take a clear stance on mental health and reinforce its goal of supporting mental health. Together with Deutsche Depressionshilfe, BARMER developed a free online course designed to equip people with practical tools to help themselves and others.

The campaign pursued three core objectives: to drive course participation, raise awareness around mental health, and demonstrate BARMER’s relevance to young adults aged 18–24.

Solutions

A TikTok-first approach built on trust and community

Mental health is not new to TikTok, but Mental First Aid marked the first time a German health insurer told the story in a consistent, trustworthy, and community-driven way.

From the outset, TikTok wasn't treated as a distribution channel, but as the creative foundation of the campaign. To signal commitment and build credibility, BARMER transformed its existing TikTok presence into a dedicated mental health profile at launch. This monothematic focus helped establish trust, align with search behavior, and create a clear entry point for the community.

Highly credible creators, many of them Gen Z themselves and part of relevant communities, gave visibility to the topic and made expert knowledge approachable. Relatable creators complemented these voices by reflecting everyday situations and lowering barriers to engagement through native formats such as POV videos.

Paid media, promoted using Spark Ads, was used to amplify the most successful organic content and optimize it toward course registrations. In this way, organic relevance and paid efficiency worked together seamlessly, allowing BARMER to evolve from a campaign message into an ongoing conversation with measurable impact.

Results

Strong engagement, real participation, and membership growth

The campaign delivered clear results across awareness, engagement, and conversion. In total, it generated more than 99 million views and 3.88 million interactions on TikTok, signaling strong resonance with the audience. Community engagement went beyond surface metrics, with 4,643 comments in which users shared personal stories, questions, and experiences.

Conversion was the central success metric. During the campaign, 329,167 link clicks were recorded, showing that the community didn't just watch, but actively took the next step. These clicks translated into more than 23,262 registrations for the online course.

Impact extended beyond the platform. Despite parallel contribution increases, BARMER recorded a 23% increase in young insured members compared to the previous year.

Ultimately, Mental First Aid became more than a campaign, it became a cultural conversation that successfully turned digital reach into real-world action, proving how TikTok first storytelling can drive both social and business impact.