Kwik Fit has been named the winner of the 2026 ITV Head First Award, which recognises the ad campaign that best shines a spotlight on mental wellbeing and inspires action, winning £1m in ITV commercial airtime.
Devised by VCCP, Kwik Fit’s winning entry inspires the nation to have a KwikChat at Kwik Fit; promoting the behaviour of giving someone a call while waiting for a service to be complete to support mental wellbeing and turning wait times into moments of mental maintenance.
With nearly one million MOTs carried out at Kwik Fit every year, that is one million chances to support mental health, simply by starting a conversation.
Kwik Fit beat a shortlist of five who presented their ideas with an in-person pitch to a panel of judges, including Mind chief executive Dr Sarah Hughes, AMV BBDO executive creative Laura Rogers, and Thinkbox CEO Lindsey Clay.
The award is designed to reflect ITV’s wider social purpose commitment to fostering a world in which we all do more to look after our mental wellbeing. The 2026 competition, being run for the second time, follows the success of the inaugural winner, WWF, which used its £1m airtime prize to launch a powerful campaign encouraging people to get their “daily dose of nature” to support their mental health.
ITV director of client strategy and commercial marketing Kate Waters said: “Kwik Fit were worthy winners in a highly competitive field of entries. Their ‘KwikChat’ idea is a brilliant example of leveraging the brand’s identity to create a relatable and actionable way to create real social impact through the power of TV advertising. It perfectly embodies the spirit of the Head First Award and I can’t wait to see it on screen.”
Kwik Fit head of retail marketing Tom Gentle added: “We appreciate our expertise is in vehicle health as opposed to mental wellbeing. However, as well as helping people to look after their cars, we want to encourage them to do something that is proven to positively impact mental health, particularly when it is as simple as giving someone they care about a quick call.
“We hope that by associating car maintenance with mental health we can show how drivers can take advantage of often unclaimed, unused time in the service experience – the wait. Whether they are in our centre reception, going for a coffee, or simply having a stroll round the local area, while we look after their tyre change or MOT, our customers have a chance to look out for their family and friends.
“With this campaign we have a real chance to drive a change in behaviour for the better. And with more MOTs per year than anyone else, there’s a lot of people we can positively impact and help drive away happy, every time.”
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