Integration: A Campaign with Personal Appeal

Situation:
As a part of Union Hospital Health Group’s strategic plan, MillerWhite’s new media service line was asked to revamp and redesign UHHG’s web site (uhhg.org) to make it more user-oriented. To get the word about the improved site out to potential users, the firm turned to more traditional marketing channels.

Solution:
The primary goal of the web site campaign was to drive targeted audiences to the web site. The audiences were persons 40 to 70 years of age and young adults with children. A secondary goal was to build awareness of UHHG throughout the market and brand UHHG as the premier health source.

Tactics developed included a coordinated direct mail/billboard campaign. The direct mail post card with magnet pinpointed the specific audience demographics in Vigo County. The billboard campaign reinforced the direct mail for reach, branding and imaging. The creative strategy was a strong emotional appeal achieved with close-up photos of adults and children representing the target audiences, and a very simple, personal message for maximum impact to drive people to the web site. A tagline positioned the web site: Get well - informed.

Result:
“While it is difficult to measure the effect of such a campaign,” said Lorrie Heber, System Director Public Relations, “We do know that after the campaign began, hits on the site more than doubled. We continue to receive web comments daily–people asking questions or responding to the site in some way.”

Internally, physicians and employees have taken pride in the web site, Heber said. Employees reacted very positively to the campaign, to the extent that the hospital’s OB Department “adopted” the baby that appeared on one billboard as its own symbol.

Heber said the site has proven extremely valuable in recruitment of new employees. “We’ve been able to cut our employment advertising in newspapers to almost zero because people are web savvy now and they have found they can come to the web site to look for jobs,” Heber said.

Editor’s Note: MillerWhite, an integrated marketing firm, discovers solutions to successfully integrate the core communication channels of advertising, public relations and new media with their clients’ overall business and marketing goals. At MillerWhite, we call that MW Fusion, and it involves utilizing one channel to support, reinforce or promote another channel to reach the client’s goals cost-effectively and with the maximum overall return.

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