PULSE Solutions and Insights for Healthcare Marketers
May/Jun 2013
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A Publication of Brown Parker & DeMarinis Advertising
IN THIS ISSUE: Can Hospital Advertising Be Great? (In a Word, Yes.)
Makes Great 4 What Creative in Healthcare
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a Great 8 How Commercial
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Was Made
to Work with 9 How Your Agency to Get
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Great Creative
Making a Mess of a 11 Perfectly Good Ad
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The Value of Entertainment
WELCOME TO
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y spelling is terrible. If I were responsible for all of the outgoing correspondence to clients and potential biz business, I’m quite sure all of us at BPD would be out of a job. Luckily success at my particular job does not hinge upon correct spelling; however, it involves heavy doses of strategy, design, concept, art, as well as the constant balancing act of keeping a bunch of moody creatives happy and performing at their highest levels. That’s why I compare BPD to a creative vehicle. No one part (e.g. person or department) would be able to move that vehicle by itself. We all have to function in tandum tandem. So our agency is a car, and working together makes that car whole. Yet just because a car has all of its parts in working order does not mean it’s off to the races. That’s where our clients come in. The client provides both fuel and direction for our creative vehicle; without both, we’d either be stuck on the side of the road, or doing donuts in the parking lot. For now, let’s focus on direction. A solid, concise strategy is the chassis of successful advertising. It may take days or weeks to develop, but in the end,
strategy can truly make or break an ad campain campaign. The client-agency relationship boils down to a couple of key ideas: clear, open communication, and trust. It falls on both parties to communicate efficiently and effectively to get the most out of the relationship. Trimming the fat from a well-considered creative brief, providing detailed feedback throughout the creative process, and sharing insights along the way are all great means for a client to ensure the best results from his or her agency. And speaking from a creative’s perspective, it makes our ability to deliver excellence that much more within reach. And finally, when you do buy a car and start driving it, you (hopefully) don’t constantly fret about whether it is going to break down on you. You trust that car to do what it is supposed to do. In the case of your agency, it is to carry your brand to a better place. Now buckle up and let’s put some miles on this thing. Sincerely,
Vince DeMarinis
Creative Director, Art Brown Parker & DeMarinis Advertising
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Email them to: pulseeditor@bpdadvertising.com. We’ll publish them with our response in the next issue.
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By Brown Parker & DeMarinis Advertising Editors Vince DeMarinis Ward Parker Jason Brown Art Directors James Coates Angela Muñoz James Hale Writer Matt Dority Brown Parker & DeMarinis Advertising is a full-service healthcare marketing agency. We are 10 years strong, working with clients to create campaigns that invigorate brands and move the needle. To sign up for a
What Makes Great Creative
webinar, view more samples of our work, and download our comprehensive white papers, go to www.bpdadvertising.com/PULSE Or call Jason Brown, President, at 561.276.7701 (x206) or toll-free at 1.888.5BPD.CAN (1.888.527.3226). Brown Parker & DeMarinis Advertising makes no claims, promises, or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of this publication, and expressly disclaims liability for errors and omissions in the contents of this publication. All intellectual information herein is the property of Brown Parker & DeMarinis Advertising and our clients.
Value of Entertainment The
By: Matt Dority, Senior Copywriter Brown Parker & DeMarinis Advertising
I
t is completely understandable to see why a brand marketer or product manager would insist upon cramming into each ad every possible promotional message to sell the product or service.
After all, what’s the point of paying for advertising that doesn’t explicitly sell? Well, there might be one, after all. Today’s consumers are exposed to so much advertising that you have to consider how they process it. It is not news that most advertising has fractions of seconds to register with the average consumer before they drop it and move on. Think about how many messages reach the ears and eyes of today’s media-savvy consumers. It makes sense that they have developed an intricate mental filtration system so their brain isn’t constantly exhausted from processing the daily advertising bombardment. Naturally, when even receptive to advertising at all, a consumer is going to open his or her “mental registry” to messages that either contain valuable information or are genuinely entertaining. But why would a marketer spend thousands of dollars on a TV commercial that was focused on entertaining the audience with just a singular promotional message at the end? I’ve seen marketers too close to the bottom-line of the company bristle at the suggestion of such “wasted” real estate. In short, it’s because today’s consumers think just like you. Why should they listen to a message chock full of potentially boring and openly solicitous messages asking for their money? What have you done to deserve their attention? Now consider the idea of giving entertainment to the consumer as a gift. A well-executed, creative ad that evokes a laugh, dazzles the eye, or makes someone
feel good – these are things that transcend that message filtration system and ultimately leave an impression. Isn’t that our goal as marketing professionals?
When a group of advertisers and consumers were polled on the effectiveness of different types of ads (ie. informative, stop-andmake-you-think, before-and-after, scary, guilt-inducing), the highest scoring ads overall were the humorous and entertaining ones. More than one-third (34%) of consumers and 41% of advertisers said that entertaining ads were very effective, and one-third of both consumers (33%) and advertisers (32%) said that funny ads were very effective. Consumers rated most of the other types of ads in the teens and twenties regarding effectiveness.* In today’s age of relationship marketing, consider two potential characters that you meet one day. One character, a suit carrying a briefcase stuffed with papers and studies, corners you in the elevator for 60 seconds, nervously spewing out every selling point he can think of until the door finally opens and you escape with a palpable sense of relief. The other character walks up to you in the hallway, politely introduces herself, hands you a plate of freshly-baked brownies, smiles, tells you a hilarious anecdote, hands you her business card, and wishes you good day. It’s pretty obvious which one would have a more positive effect. So next time you have the opportunity to create an ad or other marketing piece, stop for a moment and think of the kind of character that you would like to be perceived as. Don’t know about you, but I’d take the brownies any day of the week.
*Source: LinkedIn Research Network/Harris Poll, 2009. (Consumers: n=2,025, Advertisers: n=1,105)
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What Makes Great Creative in Healthcare
Smart. Memorable. Persuasive.
These are all adjectives that have been used to describe great creative. It has to grab the consumer’s attention, but ultimately the most important question: does it drive people to act? Think of great–and by great we mean effective– creative as a Venn diagram. In the left circle is what it takes to fulfill the client’s objectives. On the right is stellar creative brilliance. As a creative in the healthcare industry, we try to hit that sweet spot where the two circles overlap. To simply accomplish an objective can be boring with no stopping power. To be creative or clever with no strategy will do very little for the product or service, much less the client. Let us show you examples of some advertising that lands right in that middle area.
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Great Print
What Makes it Great:
TECNIS is a brand of intraocular lenses used in cataract surgery that’s synonymous with trust and efficiency. This piece leveraged visuals showing zen and meditation to communicate the peace of mind that comes from using a TECNIS lens in the operating room. We communicated to ophthalmologists what they were seeking in the operation room—a respite from complications and worry.
What Makes it Great:
Florida Hospital (FH) wanted to communicate to potential patients the symptoms and risks of an impending stroke, the fact that it can be prevented, and that FH had excellent capabilities to successfully rehabilitate stroke victims if treated properly. We took a bicycle tire—a symbol of physical activity and health—and hinted at it representing the wheel of a wheelchair, then used a headline that stressed action, leaving readers with a sense of urgency. It successfully communicated a complicated message in a single-page ad.
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Great Print
What Makes it Great:
JFK Medical Center asked us to promote their gastric banding system, a form of bariatric surgery that lessens your capacity for food intake with the option of reversing the procedure if needed. The grocery bag—which represents the stomach—was full of all of the great foods that people can still eat without overeating. The bariatric band itself acted as the hero that tightened one part of the equation of digestion while freeing up the other. The headline spoke to the liberation of choice that comes from this bariatric option, as opposed to permanent gastric bypass surgery. Another potentially complicated message which was achieved in a “bite-sized,” single-page ad and arresting headline/image.
What Makes it Great:
Baptist Cardiac and Vascular Institute (BCVI) wanted to promote their minimally invasive options for heart treatment. We presented them with something totally unexpected: an almostempty white page with an understated yet pithy headline, and subtle body copy speaking to BCVI’s options. It worked because it was effective and completely stood out, branding BCVI as a big player in the minimally invasive arena.
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Great Interactive
What Makes it Great:
We placed an animated billboard in Raleigh International Airport showing robotic arms making tiny incisions in a snack bag to communicate how minimally invasive your surgical options were at Rex Healthcare. The animated media was eye-catching and the content played nicely off the airport surroundings, creating a memorable promotion for Rex Healthcare and their surgical team.
What Makes it Great:
This interactive online banner ad allowed viewers to hover over and click the red glowing locations of the body, which represented the most commonly occurring orthopedic problem sites. Each body part (i.e. hip, knee, shoulder, etc) presented a unique video and/or testimonial, all with a call-to-action to visit the Holy Cross Orthopedic Institute. This was great because this piece was embedded in whatever site the audience was at of their own choosing, but allowed them to access a multitude of information without being redirected to a different site.
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Great TV How We Made a Great Commercial
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Creative pitch to client
n our last issue, we showed you a TV campaign we did for St. Vincent’s HealthCare. This issue is a perfect opportunity to explain how we made one of the spots, “St. Generations.”
The process involved a lot of collaboration with the client from the very beginning. St. Vincent’s helped us select the best story, which came from letters and emails from patients and families thanking the hospital. And we worked out the most compelling way to tell it in 60 seconds, putting together storyboards which marketing director Kelly Brockmeier used to sell the campaign through her organization. Kelly’s reading of the script to the hospital’s senior leaders actually brought more than one of them to tears. What elevated this spot above the typical talking-head testimonial was the level of production. The director, Theresa Wingert, could create emotion and poetic beauty out of just about anything. We shot in multiple locations to dramatize the story, using flashback-style reenactments with an actor playing the patient’s late grandmother. Then, with top-notch editing by Barnett Kiel at Cutters in L.A. and a compelling musical score by Caleb Couch, we got a commercial that truly touched the heart. This was not a locked-down shot of someone talking to the camera—which would’ve been cheap, but ultimately forgettable; this was a beautiful flipbook of emotional snapshots telling a story that left a real impression.
Production scheduling
Client production meeting
On location with client
What Makes it Great:
The testimonial is a very familiar trope in hospital marketing, but this particular one told a great story and connected emotionally with viewers, making them think warmly of St. Vincent’s.
The magic in action
View “St. Generations” in Pulse Issue 2. www.bpdadvertising.com/PULSE
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A tired team ready to celebrate
Great Commercial
What Makes it Great:
How to Work with your Agency to Get Great Creative
W
hen client and agency come together, the resulting harmony can produce buzz-worthy creative that moves the needle. Sometimes this is easier said than done, however. So how do you facilitate the maximum output of your agency?
Your agency can bring objectivity and a fresh set of eyes. Sometimes clients can be led astray by their own corporate cheerleading. They’re too close to their brand to be able to see it as consumers do. Sometimes the truth might not be the most pleasant thing to hear, but from your brand’s perspective, it might be the absolute best thing for it. Your agency should be far enough removed—and yet definitely invested—to deliver just the right dose of truthful advice about what direction to take your brand.
It wasn’t made for TV. To promote Florida Hospital for Children and teach children about health, we worked with Special Agent Productions to produce two-minute animated cartoons called “The Adventures of Doc Fu.” These episodes were shown in movie theaters before kid-friendly movies and currently reside on the web. Simultaneously, a 30-second spot ran on TV promoting the series. We eschewed typical children’s hospital advertising to speak directly to children and thereby influence their parents organically.
An open mind can open doors. An ad agency isn’t always right. But there should be an element of trust present at all times. So when your agency presents work that you aren’t completely comfortable with, resist the urge to shoot it down outright. Sometimes giving yourself the chance to digest a new, pioneering direction will allow you to see which elements can survive and—with a little work—become something great. It’s that whole cliché about throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Your agency will never be skilled in the art of mind-reading. Whether it concerns internal politics or the competitive landscape of your brand’s market, it is always a good policy to share information openly with your agency. You never know when you might provide an unforeseen boost—or prevent a potential catastrophe—by doing so. And you’ll help the agency do its job more effectively.
In this industry, specificity is next to godliness. It can take the form of something as widereaching as a creative brief or something as simple as giving feedback on body copy—in any case, giving specific direction is very
helpful to your agency. Instead of “show more technology,” it helps us so much more to hear “I really want to see more messaging on our minimally invasive and robotic surgical techniques.” Some examples of unhelpful feedback that we’ve received:
• I don’t like this concept • This image is confusing • I don’t think the messaging is correct Some examples of great, constructive feedback that we’ve received:
• I’m not sure that the photo is consistent with our brand image • I like the headline but the voice is off • The product needs to be more frontand-center • Please emphasize the product’s unique selling point more And finally, we all have a boss, and know that we need to make our bosses happy. The best way to do this, however, is to apply the same rule to him or her. If your CEO gives you very vague direction on an ad or campaign, take the time to tease out the specifics of what they like and dislike. That way your agency will be able to hone in on a CEO-pleasing solution that much more quickly.
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Great Outdoor
What Makes it Great:
What Makes it Great:
What Makes it Great: 10 PULSE
The brief said to talk about quality rankings. But the physicians wanted billboards that would be noticed. When we presented this light-hearted approach that portrayed the patient benefit, no one minded that we had thrown away the brief.
Florida Hospital wanted to be portrayed as aggressively taking a stand against the major causes of death like heart disease and stroke. Here we turned them into fighters for their patients in graphic ways that worked well in outdoor.
These simple and fun billboards promoted the cardiovascular services of St. Vincent’s while building upon the brand equity of their logo icon by incorporating it prominently into the visual.
Making a Mess of a Perfectly Good Ad.
And What it Could Have Been.
Not too long ago, Florida Hospital commissioned us to develop a campaign for their women’s services. Our approach included the simple execution that you see below, and Florida Hospital approved it. As a client, Florida Hospital has been wonderful at making sound decisions, so it should be disclaimed that they made none of the comments you see applied below. Painting a hypothetical example of client feedback gone awry, we used this ad and made our own feedback—cobbled together from the many client comments we’ve received over the past 10 years. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is how bad advertising is created.
The Actual Ad...
Can the docto bigger? Lrs be et show som ’s awards, e too.
Can we add some doctors?
Can you lose the necklace? It seems out of place now.
Finally, a hospital just for her. Florida Hospital Women’s Services. Providing everything from obstetrics to heart and cancer care. Visit www.floridahospitalwomen.com.
Now that’s a hardhitting ad! PULSE 11
Your hospital is our shoe. Why can’t your hospital’s advertising be as exciting as those big-time shoe commercials? You’re competing
with them for your patients’ attention. At Brown Parker & De Marinis, we reach for that level of creativity with real emotion that brings you closer
to your patients. For healthcare marketing you’d never expect and results you can always count on, we may be the right fit. To sign up for a What Makes Great Creative webinar for your company, log onto bpdadvertising.com/PULSE