HEALTH U
Shortly after the merger of Hackensack University Medical Center and Meridian Health — creating what would become an 18-hospital system in New Jersey — my team and I were approached to guide the new system through its consumer communications.
The challenge was apparent: Each hospital in the system communicated to its own constituency independently from the rest of the system, blunting the consumer value in the consolidation. The communication vehicles needed to join together under one system-wide brand.
Before defining the brand, I helped to outline and visualize a strategy for targeting content across platforms and audiences. A single story would be told using different assets and language throughout the hospital system‘s media ecosystem. The content was mapped out via social media and email newsletters against specific user preferences. And the time with hospital and patient stakeholders would be maximized, capturing testimonials, imagery, video and audio all in the same sitting.
With careful planning and curation of the best healthcare stories from throughout the system, the team introduced detailed tracking mechanisms to reveal the content that best resonated with our audience. By leading users from channel to channel, the various media vehicles demonstrated true return on investment.
The new brand became Health U, connecting its tagline (“It's about the power of you.”) with the system‘s promotion of its academic medical centers. Health U is a comprehensive print and online content resource that provides tools that audiences need to make informed decisions about their health.
ROI
The campaign has continued to generate massive returns for Hackensack Meridian Health. Following a redesign in 2021, call center activity, physician referrals and service referrals all increased between 60 and 170 percent.
Produced for a client of GLC