Women's Health Refresh Delivers Big

Building a state-of the-art maternity ward and launching a non-traditional maternity campaign yielded a 37% increase in prenatal appointments and the most monthly births in 14 years at VCU Medical Center.

For years, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center's run-down maternity ward helped to cement the Richmond, VA, organization's reputation for providing OB services strictly to uninsured and high-risk moms. The labor and delivery rooms were overdue for a refresh—they hadn't been updated in more than 20 years and, as a result, the 865-bed medical center's market share was suffering.

"The former unit did not support today's delivery model in which most women labor, give birth, and recover in the comfort of one room," says Cynthia Schmidt, chief of marketing for VCU. "The former unit was not welcoming to the doctors and nurses; they worked in cramped quarters."

So in the spring of 2013, when VCU revised its logo and created a fresh, unified brand identity, the L&D unit received a face-lift too. Schmidt and her team worked with architects to gut the unit and start from scratch, setting the scene for a new maternity ward experience, where midwives and doulas are welcomed.

"OB/GYN Department Chair Dr. David Chelmow is revamping VCU's women's specialty care program and the brilliantly designed L&D unit is the first reflection of he and his team's incredible work," Schmidt says. "Dr. Chelmow and the L&D Nurse Leadership Team designed a beautiful new space that would attract moms and bolster the staff's performance as well as [patient] satisfaction."

To convey the L&D's new offerings and image to local moms-to-be, VCU worked with Richmond-based creative agency ND&P to create an integrated campaign. The effort, which ran from October 2013 through May 2014 utilized print, outdoor, radio, and digital elements.

Messaging
After conducting extensive market research by interviewing former VCU L&D patients, L&D staff, and local childbirth community leaders, the following key messages were identified to reflect the new spirit of childbirth at VCU:

• VCU empowers each woman to be an active participant in her prenatal care and childbirth.
• The L&D team works with each mother to design her ideal delivery experience.
• The L&D team supports natural childbirth and has an established midwifery program for those seeking low intervention births. (A key differentiator—VCU's is the only hospital-based midwifery program in Richmond.)
• New L&D facilities support the natural birth process via private labor tubs and showers, as well as wireless fetal monitoring.
• New L&D facilities are designed for function and are spa-like and comfortable.
• Cesarean deliveries are more calming with the capability to dim the lights and play mom's music via surround sound speakers in new ORs.

The creative team immediately knew it wanted to create ads with a fresh, bold look playing off of VCU's brand colors of black and gold.

"We achieved this by using black and white photos and popping the VCU gold—very elegant and not at all the traditional pink and blue baby colors," says Chereen Baramki, associate creative director for ND&P. "We typeset the headlines large to further match this bold look. Mothers today are forward-thinking and in-the-know and we wanted the design to reflect that. This is not your mother's OB campaign."

Schmidt and her team supported the creative direction because they recognized that the proposed color scheme and style was on-trend in 2013, and would therefore appeal to upwardly mobile and discerning moms.

"Fortunately, this popular color combination aligned perfectly with the VCU brand," she says. "We embraced the trendy color scheme, featuring elegant black and white photography, to give the L&D campaign an upscale, sophisticated decidedly VCU look and feel."

The ads drove prospective patients to its website, VCUmom.com, which had been revamped along with the L&D unit. Where the old website was geared toward referring physicians and prospective medical students, VCUmom is focused on expectant mothers, offering visitors a glimpse at the new L&D suites and other information to help them make an informed decision about where to have their baby.

Results
While the marketers may have taken a risk by using a non-traditional maternity campaign, it has paid off. Since the effort launched, VCU has seen a 37% increase in expectant moms scheduling their first appointments with an OB/GYN or nurse midwife. The medical center had 235 deliveries in May 2014—a 14-year high.

Going forward, Schmidt says she plans on building on the campaign momentum with paid advertising, web content, event, and public relations efforts.