How a gaming-inspired mental health campaign drove a 73% increase in therapy bookings at SteelSeries
Content
- Company overview
- The challenge
- The strategic approach
- The solution: Player profiles meet mental health
- The results: Resonance beyond metrics
Company: SteelSeries
Sector: Gaming peripherals & accessories manufacturing
Employees: 400 employees across 24 different countries
Challenge: Low therapy engagement despite available benefits
Solutions: World Mental Health Day campaign using gaming culture and peer storytelling
Impact: 67% Therapy & Coaching usage in 2025; a 73% increase in therapy bookings from previous 90 days
Company overview
With a mission to help every gamer push the boundaries of awesome and feel like a star, SteelSeries is a leading manufacturer of gaming peripherals and accessories, including headsets, keyboards, mice, and mousepads. Employees are known internally as "Steelheads" and are spread across multiple time zones globally.
After 18 months of building a structured wellbeing program, SteelSeries wanted to increase awareness and use of Unmind's Therapy & Coaching during World Mental Health Day 2025.
The challenge
SteelSeries had been building a structured wellbeing program for 18 months, but one ongoing challenge remained: finding the right communication approach for different mental health topics.
Kathrine Lund Pless, Global Health & Wellbeing Lead at SteelSeries, needed to deliver a World Mental Health Day campaign that was:
- People-first and culturally resonant
- Effective in encouraging employees to engage with their own mental health
- Natural and relevant in promoting Unmind's Therapy & Coaching
- Aligned with SteelSeries' mission
The challenge was particularly acute given that Steelheads are distributed across time zones, requiring support that could fit every individual's schedule, language, and comfort level.
We usually revisit our mission to remind us what it is all about: our people. That is really the core of all our work – because if our people don’t feel like stars, how can they help gamers feel like that?
The strategic approach
Kathrine partnered closely with Unmind to develop a WMHD 2025 campaign centered on simple, relatable communication and a playful, gaming-inspired creative direction.
The key strategic decision: anchor the campaign in SteelSeries' mission while promoting Unmind’s Therapy & Coaching as a practical, accessible next step for improving personal wellbeing.
This partnership approach represented an evolution in SteelSeries' wellbeing work:
Since launching Unmind, our wellbeing strategy has become more proactive and structured, with many initiatives now developed in collaboration with the team there.
The solution: Player profiles meet mental health
Campaign elements
1. Player Profiles
A select group of employees created profiles sharing their best practices for mental health. Colleagues could read these profiles and try out the practices themselves. The profiles made the content personal and relatable – peer-to-peer rather than top-down.
2. Short, actionable tips
The mental health tips were deliberately short and concise, focusing on essential takeaways. This respected employees' time and made the content easy to digest and remember.
3. Gaming-inspired creative
Custom graphics including banners, player profiles, and the company mascot Lars made communications visually appealing and on-brand. The creative direction brought playfulness to a serious topic.
Standout moment
One tip from a female colleague in Singapore became particularly memorable and widely shared:
"Saying no is a form of self-respect. It's not about doing less, it's about doing what matters, better."
Kathrine noted this would "stick with me forever" – the kind of simple, powerful message that changes how people think about boundaries and self-care.
Why digital therapy & coaching fit
The campaign promoted Unmind's digital therapy and coaching as the natural next step:
With Steelheads spread across time zones, Unmind's digital therapy and coaching make support available in a way that fits every individual's schedule, language, and comfort level – perfectly aligned with our people-first mission.
The results: Resonance beyond metrics
The campaign resonated strongly across the organization – more so than previous wellbeing efforts.
Quantitative impact
Therapy & Coaching engagement:
- 67% Therapy & Coaching usage in 2025
- 58%* increase in employees accessing Therapy & Coaching, with a share of that growth driven by employees booking their first-ever sessions after reading the campaign content.
- 73%* increase in Therapy & Coaching sessions in Q4
*in comparison to previous 90 days
Qualitative impact:
Beyond standard metrics of email engagement or views, SteelSeries saw the impact that truly matters:
- Employees reached out directly to say the content changed their perspective
- Engagement was deeper, more reflective, and more aligned with long-term behaviour change
- The campaign helped turn attention toward action, not just awareness
This directly supported the organization's wellbeing goal of helping every Steelhead "push the boundaries of awesome and feel like a star."
What's next? Building on success.
SteelSeries isn't treating this as a one-time campaign. Building on the success of WMHD 2025, the team is now:
- Creating an internal wellbeing hub to centralize all mental health resources, making it easier for employees to find support when they need it.
- Relaunching their global mental health ambassador group to strengthen local advocacy and create more champions across regions and time zones.
- Continuing a proactive wellbeing strategy in partnership with Unmind, using the platform's content, webinars, and awareness-day materials to support long-term engagement rather than one-off campaigns.
Key takeaways for HR and wellbeing leaders
1. Cultural fit matters more than perfect messaging
Speaking your organization's language – whether that's gaming terminology, sports metaphors, or something else – will always outperform generic wellness communications.
2. Make it peer-to-peer
Employee voices are more powerful than executive endorsements or external experts when it comes to normalizing mental health support.
3. Respect attention spans
Short, actionable tips work better than comprehensive guides. Give people something they can read and apply in under a minute.
4. Playful ≠ unserious
You can deliver important mental health messages in ways that feel fun and aligned with company culture. Seriousness of tone doesn't equal seriousness of purpose.
5. Focus on action, not just awareness
The goal isn't just to make people aware that therapy exists – it's to help them take the step of booking that first session.
6. Partnership amplifies impact
Working closely with your wellbeing platform provider to co-create culturally relevant campaigns can dramatically improve results compared to using off-the-shelf materials.