Advertising Showcase: VCU Health “UN” Brand Campaign
Each month, Strategic Health Care Marketing Advertising Showcase features a multimedia advertising campaign challenges, tactics, and outcomes, offering strategic and creative insights from some of the nation’s leading hospitals, health systems, and health-related organizations.
By aligning the health care brand with the academic side of the university, VCU Health strengthens its unique position as an Academic Medical Center in a cluttered market.
Background
Health care marketing in the greater Richmond area is not for the faint of heart. Due to mergers, consolidations, and expansions, this central Virginia region is dominated by three powerhouse brands — Bon Secours, HCA, and VCU Health.
Kevin Best, associate vice president of Brand Marketing, Enterprise Marketing and Communications
According to Kevin Best, associate vice president of Brand Marketing for VCU, the organization needed to distinguish itself in a “sea of sameness.”
“An initial glance at the competitive landscape might lead you to think we were comparing apples to apples,” explains Best. “But by digging a little deeper, you realize we’re not an apple at all. We’re an orange.”
“The driving force behind the development of our brand platform was to articulate in an authentic way what is special about our orange,” says Best. “We needed to be unapologetic in how we talk about ourselves and lean into our distinctive excellence in a bold way.”
Read the rest of the article to learn how VCU Health developed a fresh, new brand — UN-like any other health system — and view the elements of the brand campaign.