Campaign Spotlight: Old Hospital, New Image

Riverview Hospital has served its community for a century, but recently new hospitals have been encroaching on the Noblesville, IN, hospital's long-established turf. So the organization launched a branding campaign to promote the hospital and its latest technology—something the competing organizations advertise. The effort received a gold award for branding among medium hospitals at the 2009 HealthLeaders Media Marketing Awards.

"Riverview Hospital's 'Welcome Home to World-Class Care" campaign was designed to debunk the myth that a community hospital isn't capable of matching the level of care of privately funded 'big city' hospitals," the organization wrote in its award entry form. "The campaign was specifically designed to have a sophisticated, high-tech look, and clear, consistent messaging."

The campaign aimed to inform straying patients that they don't have to look or travel far for world-class care, and to "preach to the choir" by emphasizing the importance of its exceptional services to internal audiences.

The campaign was a success on both counts. Two weeks after it launched, an online poll found that 42% of employees knew the campaign tagline, jumping to 84% after 30 days. Among external audiences, Web site hits spiked 39% during the initial launch phase. Calls for physician referrals in featured service lines have increased by 12.5%.

"The jump in internal tag line recognition jumping from 42% after two weeks to 84% after 30 days is impressive," wrote one judge. "The ads are crisp, clear, exciting, and engaging."

Campaign elements included TV, print, radio, and outdoor.

"This campaign stood out from the competition visually, but also with message," Riverview wrote. "The campaign was a collaborative effort, based on exhaustive internal and external research and internal focus groups and interviews to determine the message. Once all stakeholders agreed on the message, buy-in was immediate, delivering a new brand that the organization was ready, able, and most of all willing to embrace."