Campaign Spotlight: Hospital Ads Go High-Def

The print ad for Covenant HealthCare's features a photo of a smiling woman—but her entire left side is blurred, making her features indistinguishable. Her right side is crystal clear. "Wouldn't you want your surgeon to see in HD? Precision matters," the copy reads.

The Saginaw, MI-based health system launched the campaign in May to promote its da Vinci High Definition Robotic Assisted Surgery—the region's first. The health system worked with Detroit-based agency Brogan & Partners to create the integrated campaign, which consists of TV, radio, print, and outdoor elements.

"Brogan & Partners developed a different approach for the da Vinci promotion, focusing on the new high definition feature that is unique in this market," Covenant's Director of Marketing Larry Daly said in a release. "The resulting ad campaign, Precision Matters, has really hit home with our patients and target audiences, as reflected in the high number of da Vinci surgeries."

The ad targets women ages 35-64 and highlights the importance of high definition—the da Vinci technology alone isn't new to area hospitals, after all. So far the campaign has proven successful, with 50 new surgeries scheduled in the first two months since the campaign launched.

"Our strategy was to set Covenant apart from the competition in the minds of consumers with a clear focus on the superior competitive differentiator," said Brogan & Partners Healthcare Division Partner and Director Julia Shea in the release. "We thought the HD benefit of Covenant's new robotic assisted surgery would resonate well with the public, partly due to the increasing awareness and popularity of HDTV."