Even when treated with medicine and considered “stable,” people with schizophrenia often still suffer from symptoms that can make simple tasks—like cleaning their room—an impossible challenge. So to draw attention to their plight, we launched a furniture store in New York over the holidays, with a twist. The showrooms were based on real spaces of real people living with schizophrenia. Instead of pristine, beautifully organized displays…everything was in chaos, immersing visitors in the day-to-day struggles of people with this condition. All to encourage mental health advocates, healthcare providers, and caregivers to learn to recognize the signs that even when “stabilized” with treatment many people still need help.

If there’s one thing you often hear from people who live with schizophrenia—or from those who live with them—is that they often struggle to keep their homes or rooms organized. We interviewed patients and caregivers, looked through countless posts on social media, and saw this time and again. So, we decided to bring this insight to life—by creating a high-end furniture store during the holidays that was actually modeled on the real spaces of people affected by this condition. We figured there was no better way to immerse someone in the reality of schizophrenia than by getting them to truly experience how disruptive it can be.

Our main audience—healthcare providers and caregivers of people living with schizophrenia—often prioritize getting patients “stable” with medication, meaning getting their hallucinations and delusions under control. But even when treated, most of these patients still experience problems with thinking, memory, and motivation that can turn their lives upside-down.

So to wake up our audience to the true, full impact of schizophrenia, we needed a disruptive activation that actually helped them to see and feel what’s happening.

To do that, we invited local HCPs, caregivers/patients, mental health advocates, and the press to our one-day event. Afterwards, we used mental health influencers—along with our brand channels—to share and promote the experience online.

We rented a high-traffic space in SoHo, and had about a week to get our one-day event ready for the holidays. Partnering with a production company that’s experienced in retail builds, we recreated a high-end furniture store, designing showrooms, fabricating signage, etc. Getting the details right was important (we even papered over the windows with the “coming soon” posters we’re used to seeing in NYC stores). And then, of course, we had to make sure the displays and showrooms were authentic to the patient experience, so we designed them to mimic the real spaces of people living with schizophrenia, using the type of clutter that’s present in their bedrooms and living rooms.

The event itself was filmed, and content was later hosted on the brand’s social media channels, and promoted by mental health influencers.

Leading mental health advocates attended the event. And within the first week, our activation had nearly 1 million views on social media, and earned coverage from several industry publications—helping to kickstart a conversation about the need for better management of schizophrenia.