- Apps
- Case Studies
- Portfolio
- Whitepapers
- Articles
- The Web Gets Responsive
- Lessons Learned from the Campaign Trail - Part 1
- I’m Sew Money – The Rise of The Craft Industry Online
- Google Goes Social with Google+
- The Outdoor Industry and “Sustainability”
- Facebook for Qualitative Research
- 3 Tips on Managing the Cost of Healthcare
- Performance Management in Turbulent Times
- 7 Cause Marketing Best Practices from Sushi Zushi’s Recent Misstep
- The Chicken & Egg of Mobile Payment
- How Much Is Your Data Worth?
- Three SEO Lessons from J.C. Penney
- 3D and 4G
- Why Corporate Blogs Need PR Strategy
- 5 Tips for Going Mobile
- Lessons Learned from the Ballot Box
- Inside the Creative Mind
- Retail Winter Survival
- Debunking the Myth of the “Social Superhero
- Nothing New about Old Spice
- Mobile Surveys: More Trouble Than They’re Worth?
- The Great Healthcare Reset – How You Can Make Change Stick
- Telecom’s forgotten competitive advantage: customer service
- Social Filtering – why some ideas get shared and others fail
Stroke Center Launch
The public service campaign that educated a city and promoted a new facility
Challenge
A community crisis hit San Antonio when patient advocates shed light on the city’s absence of a comprehensive stroke treatment center. The closest accredited program was 80 miles away in Austin. Raised awareness of this missing necessity led to a public outcry to act, and Baptist Health System rose to the occasion. For the task of promoting and educating the public about the new stroke network, Baptist turned to GDC for its healthcare expertise.
Action
With Baptist’s network opening soon, GDC noticed a bigger challenge than promoting its launch: local residents needed education on the often-subtle symptoms of stroke. Since we now had to accomplish 2 objectives in 1 campaign, we took an integrated strategy that mixed marketing, creative, public relations and media:
- Developed messaging, including advertisements, brochures, press releases, event planning and signage
- Staged public scenes in which an actor portrayed a victim experiencing a stroke, then handed out informational fliers
- Set up mannequin installations at public events, representing the number of annual stroke victims in the city
- Created a microsite with information and a downloadable action pack of educational posters, fliers and greeting cards that doctors, teachers and schools used to spread the word
- Held a press conference to announce the opening of the center and the launch of the advertising campaign
- Pitched and gained local news coverage in TV, radio and newspapers
- Planned and bought media in TV, radio, billboards and print
Result
Within the first month, Baptist measured a 15% increase in volume of stroke patients, and EMS redirected all of its stroke patients to 1 of 5 Baptist locations. The campaign won the hearts of the community and the press, and patient advocates and other community leaders praised Baptist for its efforts. The campaign also helped navigate a public discussion on a future BHS partnership with the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center.