Go with Emotional Ads? Or Use Some Ads with Almost No Emotion? A Common ‘Look’? Or Several?
by Peter Hochstein
You know the drill: Effective hospital advertising campaigns should consist of a single idea and a single graphic treatment to produce results with the sheer power of a concept, preferably emotional.
Licensed for 760 beds, Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, KS, has taken a decidedly contrary route.
Faced with an unusual marketing situation, the hospital uses a variety of innovative approaches and looks. All of them, with the exception of one service line, are devoid of emotion. Yet independent research has shown that this method has resulted in a 20 percent to 30 percent increase in preference for Wesley across several targeted service lines, according to Bruce Rowley, CEO of RSA Marketing Services, Wesley’s advertising agency.
Here’s a summary of the situation, gleaned from Rowley and from Nick Adams, vice president of marketing and public relations at Wesley Medical Center.
There are only two major hospital systems competing for patients in a roughly 100-mile radius from Wichita. Wesley Medical Center is one. The other is Via Christi Health. Other players in Wesley’s market are minor – community hospitals with 40 beds or less and a few physician-owned specialty hospitals. Until a few years ago, Wesley and Via Christi each accepted the insurance plans of only one of the two major health insurance companies doing business in the area.