• by Les Luchter , November 17, 2023

Following a successful pilot with napkin advertising in New York City restaurants and bars, online mental health provider BetterHelp has signed a category-exclusive, three-year, $4.5 million deal with NapkinAds.

Another recent pilot, in Florida for Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign (see sample, plus varied comments on the participating restaurant, here) has put NapkinAds “in the process of signing one of our largest deals,” Igor Berezner, chief executive officer of NapkinAds, reveals to Marketing Daily. “Strong & Proud, Not Weak & Woke,” read the napkins.

Zoom is also a recent client pickup, Berezner says.

Founded in the pandemic summer of 2022, when the use of QR codes connecting to menus was exploding, NapkinAds now boasts agreements with 100,000 locations nationwide.

In addition to a large QR code, the BetterHelp napkins include the brand’s logo and the line, “Talk about it in therapy.”

The pilot, which launched in July, consisted of 237,000 BetterHelp napkins and generated more than 40 million social media impressions, NapkinAds says.

At least one user-generated piece went viral on Reddit and Instagram. The copy? “Dined out with my GF of six years and the napkins came with an ad for mental health. She thought couples therapy might be a good idea, I disagreed. Result? A crazy argument and a breakup right there at the table.”

No new business for BetterHelp there, but research released by NapkinAds reveals that the campaign achieved 75% brand recall, with 20% of those encountering the napkins reporting that they would be more likely to try BetterHelp, and 19% saying they would recommend the brand to a friend or family member. 

“When we see customers engaging with our brand through social media posts sparked by our messages placed on napkins in bars and restaurants, it's a reminder of the importance of our mission and the true impact we are making on people's lives,” Olivier Sinson, director of partnerships, BetterHelp, said in a statement.

The national rollout for the BetterHelp-branded napkins will start with 2 million of them coming in December and January to restaurants and bars in New York City, Illinois and Florida, Berezner tells Marketing Daily.