1. 12/1/16, 10(23 PMBroward Health Campaign Keeps Patients Laughing
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A Campaign for Broward Health Had
Patients Laughing All the Way to the
Operating Room
DECEMBER 1, 2016
Notable Healthcare Advertising
// By Peter HochsteinBy Peter Hochstein //
Sickness, pain, and mortality, the matters that
hospitals deal with, are pretty grim stuff. Yet every
so often, hospitals find an opportunity to do
humorous ads. And while this can raise eyebrows,
it also can raise awareness and patient traffic.
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2. 12/1/16, 10(23 PMBroward Health Campaign Keeps Patients Laughing
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In my last column we looked at how a dermatologist effectively used
humor in an ad to promote his tattoo removal services. Now, another
success story worth exploring is a TV spot for joint replacement surgery,
which is part of a much larger hospital branding campaign for Broward
Health. Broward is a Florida hospital system with four campuses, five
hospitals including a children’s hospital, and a total of 1,700 licensed
beds.
The spot for its joint center featured
men and women, most of them either
seniors or middle-aged, setting off
alarms as they passed through an
airport metal detector, agilely wriggling and dancing their way past
flustered security guards. Meanwhile, a voice-over announcer explained:
“Broward Health does the most joint replacements in Broward County.
Our humblest apologies to the staff working the metal detectors at the
airport. Visit Broward health.org for a free physician referral. Broward
Health. Powerful orthopedics.”
Broward Health "30 Airport Security TV Spot
3. 12/1/16, 10(23 PMBroward Health Campaign Keeps Patients Laughing
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Beber Silverstein Group, the Miami ad agency that created the spot,
crowed that it was “the most successful campaign in at least 15 years,
according to Broward Health. Meticulous tracking showed a 10-percent
increase in brand recognition, a 20-percent increase in joint
replacements, and an amazing 300-percent increase in call volume for
orthopedic referrals.”
Moreover, the agency supplied evidence that doctors who previously
may have practiced at a number of different hospitals began steering
more patients to Broward Health “because they wanted to be part of the
Broward Health Ortho team.”
So take that, any humor-hating sourpusses out there.
But before you call in the comedians to laugh it up for your own
institution, note that there’s a somewhat complicated story behind this
spot, and that even its creators believe humor should be used
cautiously.
The advertising was part of an umbrella branding campaign that BSG,
the Beber Silverstein Group, created for Broward Health and several of
its service lines, all with either the tagline “Powerful Medicine,” or, in
some service-specific ads, a phrase that signified the service, such as
“Powerful Orthopedics.”
The “Airport Security” TV spot for joint replacements ran at 150 gross
rating points a week, supplemented by ads in print, on billboards, radio,
and internet. It began running in four-week flights. These started in
March 2008 and lasted through the end of 2008, according to Diane
High, who was Broward Health’s director of marketing at the time.
High and Mitch Shapiro, Partner and General Manager at BSG, report
that there was considerable media money behind the overall Powerful
4. 12/1/16, 10(23 PMBroward Health Campaign Keeps Patients Laughing
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Diane High, past Director of Marketing at
Broward Health
Medicine campaign. They both
believe Broward Health was
one of the top advertisers in
the marketing area, which is
crowded with a total of 13
competing hospitals.
The target market was atypical
of most hospital advertising,
which tends to seek young
mothers, who are usually the
family health care decision-
makers. In this case, the target
varied. “It’s always a little bit hard because even young people need knee
replacements” (because of sports accidents), High says. “If it was joint
replacements and not sports medicine, we would usually try to target 55
and over, male and female. (But) if it was sports medicine, it was usually
about 35 and up.”
In 2014, Broward Health started advertising its orthopedics service anew,
this time featuring Ryan Tannehill, the Miami Dolphins quarterback. This
wasn’t because there was a problem with humor, says High, but simply
because an opportunity to use Tannehill came along.
“Being a brand-new quarterback, being a very good example of the face
of our local sports team, that’s huge in the community. That’s huge
community awareness. We had a connection. He [Tannehill] knew our
doctors. He really wanted to work with us.”
Moreover, says High, “The price was reasonably inexpensive for us. From
a marketing standpoint, how could we say no?”
The spots and the print advertising were necessarily different in tone
5. 12/1/16, 10(23 PMBroward Health Campaign Keeps Patients Laughing
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Joe Perz, Creative Director of “Beber
Silverstein Group”
and manner from the “Airport Security Shots.” They largely focused on
Tannehill passing footballs or working out in a gym setting.
But Broward Health has also used humor to advertise colonoscopy
screenings. The campaign, says High, “talked about different names for
your rear end, ‘Get a screening to save your behind, rear end, backside,
tushie, fanny, keister…’” and, well, you get it.
That advertising, says Joe Perz, BSG’s Creative Director, “helped to take
some of the fear out of getting a colonoscopy.”
Perz says the choice to go with
humor “really depends on the
service line that you’re talking
about…You wouldn’t do it for
something like oncology or
trauma, any serious illness
that’s life threatening. But
humor separates you from
other brands…. People want to
be entertained these days.”
Late in 2014, there was a
change in top management
that resulted in the departure of both High and of BSG, and the
appearance on the scene of a new advertising agency. And no, it had
nothing to do with the quality of the advertising or High’s performance,
or BSG. Instead, it was rife with the aroma of politics.
On February 19, 2016, the Miami Herald reported that the suicide of the
Broward Health chief executive, who had been appointed in 2014,
“interrupted the award of a no-bid advertising contract worth as much
as $71.4 million over six years to a politically connected advertising firm”
6. 12/1/16, 10(23 PMBroward Health Campaign Keeps Patients Laughing
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« Why Rosen Hotels & Resorts Accommodations Extend to Caring for Its
Associates’ Health
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associated with substantial contributions to political candidates. That
firm was not BSG.
And that’s this story’s not-so-funny surprise ending.
Peter Hochstein is a direct response advertising consultant, business
journalist, and author. He is the author of Lessons from 9 Innovative Health
Care Marketing Campaigns, a report available at the SHCM website. You can
reach him through his website, http://peterhochstein.com.
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A Campaign for Broward Health Had Patients Laughing All the Way to the
Operating Room
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