HealthLeaders Media Marketing Awards 2008

"When you customize an experience for a person so much that it changes them, you're in the transformation business," he said. "We have the opportunity to put together a set of experiences for a patient and their family that they can't help but be changed. It's a much different bar than what we've set for ourselves."

—Marianne Aiello

Roundtable Panel: Return on Investment Success

Winning HealthLeaders Media Marketing Award campaigns must have more than eye-catching advertisements—they need to prove that marketers set high goals at the start of the campaign and then delivered solid return on investment.

One representative from each of the four most notable ROI-achieving winners participated in a 60-minute roundtable discussion to explain how they set, reached, and sometimes exceeded their investment goals.

Alicia Argiz-Lyons, corporate director of public relations at Shriners International Headquarters in Tampa, FL, spoke about the organization's Platinum award-winning children's hospital campaign that was created to stress the hospital's unique care offerings.

"We were hoping after the campaign Shriners wouldn't be the best kept secret anymore," she said. And it worked. The campaign generated $8,000 in donations after 11 weeks, averaging $65 per donation. Its television commercial generated 1,768 calls after five weeks.

The Mayo Clinic, which won a Best in Show award for a campaign promoting the opening of a new fitness center to employees, was represented by public affairs consultant Sara Lee. The campaign resulted in a 40% increase in new members. After five months, 4,645 employees, spouses, retirees, and volunteers had joined.

Jane Fielding Ellis, vice president of marketing, public relations, and community health at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, NJ, described the hospital's multimedia campaign promoting its new medical technology, which took home a Platinum award in the Best Marketing Quality category. As a result of the campaign, the oncology department saw 86 new referrals, women's health had 200 new visits, and the hospital performed 286 new MRIs.

Lastly, Gayle Sweitzer, director of marketing, acute care, and service lines for Community Health Network in Indianapolis, which won a Platinum award in the Best Branding category, said the health system decided to create a branding campaign for its new campus because "we realized there was a real vanilla feel within the community among those who never used us, so we wanted to create intrigue for individuals who had never checked us out."

The Community Health marketing team set a goal of attracting 2,000 attendees to the new campus' opening event; more than 7,000 showed up. Sweitzer said that although the health system spent $1.4 million on the campaign, it generated $2.8 million.

—Marianne Aiello

Winners of the 2008 HealthLeaders Media Marketing Awards

BEST IN SHOW
Large Hospital: Mayo Clinic of Rochester, MN, for the "Grand Opening of the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center" campaign
Medium Hospital: Helen DeVos Children's Hospital of Grand Rapids, MI, for the "40 Specialties" campaign
Small Hospital: Clarian West Medical Center of Indianapolis, IN, for "The Hunt for Pink October" campaign

BEST BRANDING CAMPAIGN
Best Branding, Large Hospital
Platinum Award: Community Health Network of Indianapolis, IN, for the " North Campus Opening" campaign
Gold Award: Memorial University Medical Center of Savannah, GA, for the "2007 Image Campaign: The Answer Is Academic"
Silver Award: Clarian Health of Indianapolis, IN, for the "A Call to Change" campaign
Distinction Award: University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina of Greenville, NC, for the "Colors Campaign"

Best Branding, Medium Hospital
Platinum Award: Shore Memorial Hospital of Somers Point, NJ, for the "Be Empowered" campaign
Gold Award: Luther Midelfort of Eau Claire, WI, for the "There Is Only One" campaign
Silver Award: Northwest Community Hospital of Arlington Heights, IL, for the "Here for You" campaign
Distinction Award: University of Kansas Hospital of Kansas City, KS, for the "Uncommon Doctors" campaign
Distinction Award: Stamford Hospital of Stamford, CT, for the "Discover More" campaign

BEST CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CAMPAIGN
Best Children's, Large Hospital
Platinum Award: Shriners Hospitals for Children of Tampa, FL, for the "Defy the Odds" campaign
Gold Award: The Children's Hospital of Aurora, CO, for the "Covering You with Care" campaign
Silver Award: Banner Children's Hospital at Banner Desert Medical Center of Mesa, AZ, for the "Banner Health Children's Campaign"

Best Children's, Medium Hospital
Platinum Award: Brenner Children's Hospital of Winston-Salem, NC, for the "Brenner Children's Hospital Branding Campaign"
Gold Award: University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview of Minneapolis, MN, for the "2007 Image Campaign"
Silver Award: Sherman Health of Elgin, IL, for the "Children's Partnership Campaign" Distinction Award: Carolinas Healthcare System of Charlotte, NC, for the "Levine Children's Hospital Campaign"

Best Children's, Small Hospital
Platinum Award: Loyola University Medical Center of Maywood, IL, for the "Oh, What an Opening!" campaign