Case Study for Agency
03-1014982-900

OSU Medical Center Ross Heart Hospital: Increasing awareness is a
crowded, highly competitive marketplace

Competition for heart patients in Columbus, Ohio, is intense. Three
major health systems vie for referrals because cardiology services are
integral to a hospital’s bottom line. The Ohio State University Medical
Center was the last of the three systems to open a heart hospital and
needed to increase awareness of and preference for its new facility in
a crowded healthcare market.

Research revealed that women ages 35+ are the primary healthcare
decision makers in most families and their decisions about heart care
are based largely on emotional, “soft” factors such as the level of
care and compassion shown by physicians and staff. It also showed that
OSU Medical Center ranked lowest in the central Ohio market for having
these more emotional brand attributes. Compounding the challenge was
that consumer awareness of the Ross Heart Hospital name was less than
one percent even after external announcements had been made about the
new hospital.

We worked with the Medical Center to heighten awareness of the new OSU
Ross Heart Hospital and position it as a leader among competitors. Our
strategies included breaking through a crowded, competitive market by
reaching consumers in non-traditional venues when they least expected a
heart-health message, but were most receptive to it. We also knew we
needed to build preference by positioning the OSU Ross Heart Hospital
as delivering state-of-the-art care in a warm, compassionate
environment.

We planned and launched the Conversation: Heart campaign using a
popular yet unexpected Valentine’s Day icon: the conversation heart
candy. We worked with NeccoTM Candy Company to customize more
than 1.7 million candy hearts with heart-smart phrases like “B Fit”,
“Eat Rite” and “See MD.” More than 57,000 packages were distributed
during Valentine’s week. Each candy packet featured images of candy
hearts and included a list of questions to ask your doctor about
keeping your heart healthy.

Candies were distributed to people in unexpected venues – at grocery
store pharmacies, in cars as they were being returned by parking
valets, at area restaurants, churches, YMCA locations and with their
local newspapers. These were supplemented by an aggressive local,
regional and national media relations program, integrated mix of
traditional and online media and internal communications.

The campaign helped the hospital achieve the overall goal of increasing
awareness and preference:
Awareness of the OSU Ross Heart Hospital services jumped by 20.5
percentage points in one year .
Following the launch of the 2006 campaign, the OSU Ross Heart Hospital
had a 1,300 percent increase in Web traffic, cardiovascular genetic
counselors saw a 600 percent increase in appointments in the month
following the 2006 campaign’s launch.

This campaign was recognized with a Silver Anvil award in the Marketing
Consumer Services/Healthcare category by the Public Relations Society
of America. The Silver Anvil is the highest honor for a multifaceted
campaign that one can achieve in the public relations industry.