As a creative director, I believe the best creative always surprises. I am always drawn to work that juxtaposes images in unexpected ways. This campaign for Land Transport New Zealand does a masterful job at this. The photography and retouching are beautiful (not to mention the New Zealand landscape!) despite the tragic messaging of the dangers of driving when you’re sleepy. It’s not surprising this campaign won a gold lion at Cannes. It’s a simple concept, brilliantly executed.
We all have that one cause we really care about. Breast cancer awareness. Saving the environment. Eliminating educational inequality. For me, it’s the ONE Campaign, which fights global AIDS and extreme poverty. Sure, there are many other causes I care about and would love to support, but in this economy, it’s difficult to make room in our wallets for even one. So we choose wisely. We pick the one that is nearest and dearest to us.
But Dawn is making it really easy for people to support another cause: saving wildlife. Its most recent TV spot, developed by Kaplan Thaler Group, supports animal-rescue efforts by showing a baby duck, penguin and seal being washed with Dawn and text stating that Dawn has helped save thousands of animals caught in oil spills. The spot also reveals that for every bottle of Dawn purchased, $1 will be donated to wildlife groups. How easy is that? We all need dish soap … why not buy the bottle that can make a difference?
It’s the new technology that will and is greatly benefiting patients, hospitals, doctors, and practically anyone else in the medical field, Electronic Medical Records (EMR’s). Within the next two years most will have it, but not many will know how to promote it outside of the medical world.
It’s a question we are faced with all the time. How do you market something so technical and explain it in terms a consumer would understand? The da Vinci campaign that we blogged about a month ago is a good example of successfully marketing something extremely technical and making it make sense to the consumer.
Now, how to apply that to the world of EMR? Gienna Shaw wrote a blog that I agree with completely, mentioning that to successfully market your EMR, you need to promote it from the patients’ prospective. Exactly what are they going to get out of this? For EMR it simply translates to the fact that the patient is at the center of all of their healthcare needs, making the benefit all about them.
Kaiser Permanente has been one of the first major players to start promoting their EMR technology to the consumer and recently launched this spot as part of their Thrive campaign.
I think it’s a really great strategy to follow. It’s simple, direct, clear, and tells the consumer why they should care about it. What do you think? Have you seen any other companies explain it so clear?
What happens when you use non-traditional tactics and apply them to an area that reaches over one million ready-to-buy consumers? You get The Smart Screen, an 8-foot tall audio/video plasma mall display. Think of the mall maps… in HD.
Designed to inform, engage and entertain consumers, this screen not only has higher quality capabilities but the creative can be updated everyday if need be. The eye level portrait format advertisements reach extremely large audiences of upscale, affluent consumers while being efficient at reaching teens and young adults of both genders.
Now the question is, was turning the traditional freestanding mall backlit display into mini TVs containing nothing but commercials really necessary? Or could the ever-changing ads really peak the potential consumers’ interest? I know I would give The Smart Screen a second look, even if it were only to appease my curiosity. It’s up to the content to keep a consumer hooked.
Working on breast cancer awareness lately has kept my attention on, well, you can imagine, certain anatomical attributes of people on the street. My creative team was questioning ourselves if we were getting too daring in our messaging. Enter the following story on some breast cancer TV spots on the morning show Good Morning America.
They ask if the creators of these spots have gone too far or if people respond to more intense messaging. What do you think? I think people are desensitized by much of the boring ads out there, so creative people need to continually reinvent ways to break through. I’m encouraged to stay daring. We’ll see how our client reacts to our concepts and if they agree with us.
We at Brogan are big believers in the almighty Emotional Connection. I find it especially critical in healthcare marketing. You can’t make an impact unless you hit someone right where it matters. The heart strings. The funny bone. The noggin. The Rainbow Connection hit it right on the nail (actually the heart strings) with their Walk for Kids last weekend. They got a head start with the crowd. You figure anyone who helps raise money for kids with life-threatening illnesses probably has a pretty big heart. But it was more than that. The emotional messaging was present throughout the event.
A father spoke of his recently departed daughter and the Disney World trip they took through a granted Rainbow Connection wish. He read a passage from her journal. 200 people walked in memory of his Maddy, her lovely face shining brightly on their t-shirts. An 8 yr. old cheerleader (and patient) jumped on stage to tell us about her wish to meet the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. Families, friends, and supporters walked, cried and laughed throughout the morning. Over 1000 walkers. Over $75,000 raised. Many times more than last year.
We’re always harping about keeping the message simple. The tendency is to want to cram too much info into too little space. Which just doesn’t compute. This event was not lavish. It didn’t need to be. The message of love, hope and walking together for some very sick kids was clear. Plain and simple. And something we will all remember.
Ahhhh, let’s take it back to the good old days of high school. It’s your senior year – so you now rule the school. You decide to go with one of your best friends to the movies. With your popcorn and soda in hand, you sit right smack dab in the middle of the theatre. Of course you get there early so you can get the best seat in the house for the much-anticipated Seth Rogan movie. The theatre goes a little dim and the first thing you see is an advertisement for a local university offering college scholarships. Coincidence? Nope, teens are the top movie-going demographic. In fact, Nielsen reports 92% of teens going to the movies at least one time in the past 12 months.
Cinema advertising has some of the highest recall rates. Why? You are not likely to get up and you can’t change the channel. Oh, and it is really loud in there. You are captivated by the big screen the second you sit down. What other places can you find teens?
I read somewhere that the generation now graduating, Generation Y, will be the least entrepreneurial of any generation. Over scheduled by parents and over rewarded with trophies for just about everything, they don’t seem to be as much of go-getters as others before them. Now Generation Z, is still young—so maybe there is hope for them. (Although my kids play a lot of sports and have a lot of trophies in our basement too!) The United States Patent and Trademark Office and the National Inventors Hall of Fame partnered with the AdCouncil to help inspire invention. The result is Inventnow.org. The TV is really fun. And while the concept of the Web site is strong, it was built a while back and I got a little impatient waiting for the downloads. But for a kid that likes to tinker, there is inspiration, challenges and instructions on how to get a patent. Let’s hope Gen Z is paying attention. I really hope America makes a comeback—so I can retire with a decent 401K one day!
As a healthcare marketer, I’m focused on getting new patients for hospitals, HMOs, doctors, etc. As patients, we choose and change our hospital, our HMO, our doc, to suit our needs…but did you ever think of them hand-picking you? Or DROPPING you? Cuz they do. Just like not making the soccer team, you may not make your favorite doc’s patient roster. We march into their offices equipped with our ”doctor interview” questions, thinking we’re the only one shopping. But they’re just as interested in finding a good doctor/patient match.
In talking to docs, I’ve learned it’s the 80/20 rule. 20% can take 80% of their time. These would be the “bad” patients. The ones that miss appointments. That don’t follow doctors’ orders. That don’t listen. They just talk. Incessantly. They’re addicted to painkillers. They call at unreasonable hours with unreal requests. They’re emotional messes. On top of all this, they may not be insured. As one doc put it, “They’ll suck the life right out of ya.” Not to mention the profitability.
More experienced docs have learned how to detect the energy-sappers right off the bat. They send them a 30-day dismissal letter, kindly requesting they seek care from another provider. This wisely preserves limited resources for the “good” patients. Yes, it can get ugly. No one likes to be dropped. But it’s perfectly just and legal. Private practice physicians can do whatever they need to run a profitable business. And with healthcare reform, they’ll be paying more and more attention to securing the “good” patients. I don’t think this is discriminatory. I think good health is a team effort and that good docs deserve good patients that do their part. How ’bout you?
Do you ever go to a shopping plaza and notice the pavement of their parking lot or notice their yellow parking stripes? I notice if the lot’s pavement is smooth or broken up or if the stripes are a bright mustard color or if they are faded. I know call me weird, that I notice the things that seem so miniscule in life…but you should keep your eyes on the asphalt!
Well if you don’t notice or if you pretend not to notice, I bet you would notice if the parking stripe had an advertisement of your favorite cereal brand on it…especially if you were in the parking lot of your local grocery stores or, for you ladies out there, Target!
Parking lot stripes are one of my favorite forms of non-traditional advertising. It breaks away from the bland parking lot and jumps out at you when you’re running those errands that require you to go to a plaza, grocery store, etc. The stripes now have the ability to have sound! How cool is that?
Awareness is nice, but it won’t put a roof over anyone’s head. The objective of most social marketing is to build awareness about social issues and inspire behavior change. This social marketing campaign for Covenant House, the largest homeless shelter for Canada’s youth, kills two birds with one stone. While it builds awareness, it asks you to do reach your hand into your pocket on the spot. Sure, the March of Dimes has been doing this for decades—asking you to add a change to a point of purchase display. But this was done in a really beautiful and interesting way. I know this won an Obie, and it certainly inspires me of what is possible for outdoor and a simple poster. Have you seen any other interesting social marketing campaigns that inspire behavior change on the spot?
Many of us expected that the ever-increasingly popular social networking sites such as facebook and Twitter would start to creep into the healthcare world. One example is the trend we are seeing of primary care Dr.’s and specialists that are being friended by their patients. It’s now becoming an avenue for communicating with them about questions, concerns, RX refill needs, etc.
Personally, I like the idea. I remember how pleased I was when my doctor gave me his email address and said, “email me any time you have any questions.” For some reason, it made me feel connected and covered – like I really could reach him any time I needed him.
Deloitte Center for Health Solutions recently conducted research that stated 55% of patients would like to communicate with their physcians via email. I think facebook is just the next avenue and in turn a great way for doctors to build and maintain their patient relationships.
I would be interested to see what most doctors think though. Is it strange to have a patient see the post they sent to their best friend about the upcoming weekend? Is it too personal? We know it takes time out of their day… but then again, some insurance companies are beginning to compensate doctors for that time.
What do you think? Do you think it’s appropriate to friend your doctor?
