When a health assessment showed that the community was having issues with preventable health issues and concerns, Exempla Healthcare in Denver decided to address things with a campaign that asked residents to "Be the One" to take control of their health.
"Among the different topics found in the assessment, we chose the ones that we felt would have the greatest impact on the community: access to preventative healthcare, activities for adults, diabetes, and cholesterol," says Colleen McLean Williamson, brand marketing manager for Exempla Healthcare.
Though Exempla hoped to reach out to the Denver community, it also needed to execute its plans on a fairly tight budget. "Because of recent budget cuts we didn't have enough to do a large media buy," says McLean Williamson. Instead, Exempla placed ads in local community papers and sent direct mailers offering a prize for the first 100 residents who signed up for an e-newsletter. Other efforts included cinema slides, press releases, and an interactive Web site.
To save more money, the team designed the marketing pieces in-house. "We do a lot of our own creative because we'd rather put dollars into the media buy," McLean Williamson says. The creative elements each feature a different spin on the "Be the One" theme of the campaign. One print element shows a family holding up watermelon slices with copy that reads, "Be the One… who makes fruit fashionable." The copy goes on to give basic health facts about managing diabetes and the call to action pushes the viewer to the Web site.
The Web site offered free health tools including downloadable information, audio podcasts from 20 physicians on various topics, and animated shorts for more than 50 different diseases or conditions to show viewers how the disease works. "We really felt that people would understand the disease or condition more if they saw it visually," says McLean Williamson.
Another unique Web feature was the ‘Healthy You' tool bar that can be downloaded to a user's Internet browser. When the user attempts to search for a condition or disease, the tool bar automatically provides the user with tabs from the top accredited health sources on the Web to save them the time and doubt of doing a general Internet search and also remembers the search in a no opt-in RSS feed which will thereafter send the user updates on the concept when new information has been found.
After a month and half run, Web site hits have increased by 5,000 visitors and more than 2,500 people have signed up for Exempla's e-health newsletter.
"This campaign was really about educating the community about prevention and managing their health, being in the know, and having the information and knowledge they need to talk to their physicians," says McLean Williamson.
Kandace McLaughlin Doyle is an editor with HealthLeaders magazine. Send her Campaign Spotlight ideas at kdoyle@healthleadersmedia.com If you are a marketer submitting a campaign on behalf of your facility or client, please ensure you have permission before doing so.