How to Get the Most from a Celebrity Hospital Visit

At Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, paparazzi stakeouts are part of the norm. On a weekly basis, celebrities are known to pass through the double doors of the hospital to volunteer, sign autographs, or take a guided tour.

“There’s no better way to get photographers to take pictures,” says Amanda Hedlund, marketing specialist for Children’s Hospital LA. "Kids will request certain celebrities. [They] love getting signed memorabilia and signed pictures. Especially right now with our new hospital building, we've been reaching out to get [celebrities] involved."

We know that linking a celeb with brand marketing isn't unique. But is it effective? If a hospital engaged Justin Beiber to promote a hospital vaccination campaign, would parents take packs of young girls in to get their cootie shots?

Not necessarily. It turns out that celebrities are not at the top of the list for faces patients trust the most. A Harris Interactive poll conducted on the behalf of Adweek shows that consumers ranked business leaders more persuasive than celebrities when delivering endorsements.

In an online survey of 2,186 adults, the following categories were ranked…

   1. Business leaders (37%)

   3. TV/movie stars (18%)

   4. Politicians (10%)

At Children’s Hospital LA, celebrity visitors have included: Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Heidi Klum, and Kim Kardashian. Instead of marketing celeb endorsements, the hospital markets celebrity visits to promote the hospital.

Hospitals that use celebrities for marketing purposes maximize the impact of celebrity visits by:

Word of mouth. Child life specialists at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta help children adjust to the psychological effects of their stay—the staff uses these connections to determine which celebrities would make for an exciting visit.

Connecting with local companies. Establishing a relationship with a department store or local business can also help to draw celebrity attention to a hospital. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta has a long-standing relationship with Macys and Rooms to Go. Both of which encourage celebrities and spokespeople to visit the hospital.

Enhancing security.  Any hospital looking to bring in a celebrity with media entourage needs to be prepared for some of the negative effects. During flu season, Children's Hospital of LA does not have as many visits in order to keep infections to a minimum. Also, in order to keep paparazzi and major disturbances away, some hospitals do not release information of the VIP's identity until after the visit.

"Usually we don't announce it until after the fact ---we'll give [a] heads up media advisory [to] give them an opportunity to take pictures," says Hedlund. "We can't announce it in-house because they'll get bombarded."

Both Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Children's Hospital of LA have security teams who are alerted the day of a visit.

Increasing Interactivity of a visit.  Some celeb visits may only last a couple of hours, but some hospitals have found ways to market the experience to a larger audience over an extended period of time.

Children’s Hospital LA is opening a new tower in July and is using Lakers player Pau Gasol to promote the expansion. The idea originally started as a marketing campaign, but then transformed into an interactive video game, similar to where’s Waldo, which uses images of Pau hiding in different spots of the hospital’s new wing.

“We had a brainstorming session about it and at first it was going to be a campaign but it turned into a game,” says Hedlund. "This way patients can interact and play with others while learning about the new wing of the hospital."

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta has also used technology to extend the life of celebrity visits. The hospital has built a broadcast media center called the Voice through the support of the Ryan Seacrest Foundation and hosts celebrity performances and interviews on a regular basis.

Patients who are too sick to attend a celebrity visit can tune in on TV and have the opportunity to call in to ask questions. Other patients who are well enough, can visit the radio tower to conduct interviews on air, says Brant Rawls, public relations representative for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

“We have several campuses with 250 beds each, this way every patient has the opportunity to be a part of the visit by watching it on their television or calling in” adds Chris Jones, director of volunteer services at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

Marketers looking to make celebrity connections with their hospital should look into teaming up with local radio stations or record labels, Jones advises.

"The best place to start is to initiate a relationship with radio stations and the record labels. They have a lot of influence over the time the artists have," she adds. "It's high-energy word of mouth."

Have celebrities visited your hospital? How does your staff make the most of a visit? Discuss in our comments section bellow.