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A Colonoscopy Campaign for Gilligan’s Island Watchers

 |  By Marianne@example.com  
   October 31, 2012

About 48 years ago, seven misfits set off on a three-hour boat tour, soon becoming hopeless castaways doomed for eternal syndication. Little did Gilligan, the skipper, the millionaire and his wife, the movie star, the professor, and Mary Ann know that nearly half a century later, their theme song would be used to prompt baby boomers to schedule colonoscopies.

In January 2012, MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital, a 346-bed hospital in Baltimore, launched an integrated campaign that played to its target audience's sentimental side. Good Samaritan had a reputation for caring for older adults, but had recently developed services and programs specifically designed to help maturing adults age actively. 

"We wanted to position ourselves as a trusted resource for this audience—and the best way to do this is to empathize," says Kris Roeder, associate vice president of marketing and communications for Good Samaritan. "Everyone over age 50 knows they need a colonoscopy, and it's something most of us put off as long as possible. I consciously sought out an iconic reference point that would help alleviate the fear about getting a colonoscopy and remind consumers approaching that age that ‘we're all in this together.' "

The campaign, which consisted of print, radio, and online ads, ran through April 11. Roeder conceived of the campaign theme because she liked the idea of using nostalgic images as a way to connect with the audience in an engaging and fun way.

Here is a sample of the jingle's lyrics: "If you were a kid when Gilligan was marooned on a desert isle / it's time for your colonoscopy / it only takes a while / to prevent one of the most curable types of cancer that we see / just throw yourself a lifesaver / get a colonoscopy."

"The juxtaposition of ‘Gilligan' with ‘colonoscopy' was meant to lessen the anxiety and taboo associated with the screening, a gentle nudge to those over 50 that they were grown up and ready to be screened," Roeder says. "I had a lot of fun searching for these iconic trigger points. We may still have a few up our sleeves."

This approach was the right move for Good Samaritan because it gave the marketing team leeway to push the boundaries of the brand and have fun with the advertising, says Maria Stearns, healthcare team director and account supervisor for ab+c, the Baltimore-based agency that worked on the campaign.

"It was a message that was completely different than anyone else's in the market," she says. "It's also a campaign that has legs and can continue to evolve and maybe even cross service lines."

Reaching boomers online
In addition to a unique message, the campaign is notable for its online advertising. Many organizations might shy away from placing online ads for a campaign targeting the 50+ demographic, but Roeder and her team placed the majority of the online ad budget with popular online radio site Pandora. Ads also went on Facebook because of its ability to target specific demographics and geographic areas.

"We understood that many [in our target audience] are plugged in out of necessity—to monitor, keep up with, or stay connected to kids or grandkids," Roeder says. "And, of course, many are hip to begin with."

"Consumers are online for everything—whether it be on their mobile device, tablet, computer, or now even Smart TV," says Gia Cruz, interactive manager with CerasoliStafford Media Management, the media buyer for Good Samaritan. "Display and mobile advertising are extremely important components to any hospital marketing campaign. Local news sites can be helpful in assisting clients and making campaigns as turn-key as possible."

Ad views and appointments
The online ads garnered click-through rates that were seven times the national average for healthcare campaigns. All in all, the campaign resulted in 968 landing page views in one day, with the average visitor spending nearly four minutes on the customized page.

The campaign also netted 44 colonoscopy appointments. Of those 44 appointments, 13 were current Good Samaritan patients and 31 were new to the hospital. Forty-three of the 44 scheduled an appointment through the call center and one booked online. Of those who called, 27 cited the radio spot as how they found out about the service. More than half of the patients were in the target group of 50–59 year olds, with 24 female and 20 male.

The campaign differentiated itself promoting a sensitive procedure in a way that didn't make the audience squirm.

"It's a service that pretty much any hospital offers—there aren't many differentiators," Stearns says. "Traditionally, you see a couple different approaches: either scary statistics with clinical messages, the patient testimonial with an ‘it saved my life' message, or some good old potty humor. Recognizing that our primary targets for this campaign were turning 50 and should be having their first colonoscopy, we wanted to have some fun with this and take them back to the pop culture of their childhood."

Good Samaritan already has a second jingle lined up, this time to the tune of "The Hustle," the disco hit from the 1970s. It target 50-plus African Americans, Roeder says.  

"We're considering creative ways to keep up the momentum and encourage a healthful approach to aging for the full spectrum of care," she says. "We are still having fun with it."

 

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Marianne Aiello is a contributing writer at HealthLeaders Media.

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