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TV News-Like Campaign Promotes IA Children's Hospital

December 20, 2016

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics uses carefully crafted fictional "news" stories and child actors to publicize the Stead Family Children's Hospital.

Fake news has been making headlines lately, but The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is putting faux-news stories to good use in its $3 million campaign to promote the new Stead Family Children's Hospital in Iowa City, IA.

The campaign is the brainchild of the health system's marketing firm, Lewis Communications of Birmingham, AL. It includes ads, videos, and a website featuring children dressed up as news reporters for a fictional station called Aktion News.

The ads began airing in September.

Campaign costs included:

  • $1.3 million for producing the videos and photos of child actors
  • $1.7 million on TV spots airing across Iowa and north-central Illinois, as well as Facebook, Twitter, and Pandora
  • $41,000 for the Aktion News website

One of the videos shows a young weather "reporter" named Story Fairweather jumping in a puddle outside the hospital. Another shows "reporter" Aien Coltrane talking to a "doctor" about hand hygiene.


'Hyper-localized' Campaign Bumps Hospital's Web Traffic


"There's a great deal of self-direction in choosing healthcare and healthcare providers," Cheryl Hodgson, Children's Hospital marketing director, told a local newspaper. "The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness of the services we provide."

The Children's Hospital, a $360 million, 14-floor facility is scheduled to open in January or February.

"It's been in the works since before many of its future patients were born, but the new, state-of-the-art University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital will finally open its doors to the public in 2017," the lead story on the Aktion News website states.

"After digging through a nearby sandbox, our investigative team uncovered previously unseen documents revealing many details of what is now the tallest building in Iowa City."

The faux news station has a Twitter account that is updated regularly. The bio reads: This is the official Twitter account for #AktionNews, local news that's NOT super boring. Affiliate of @UIchildrens."

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