A Group Practice Branding Effort Builds Awareness by Addressing Its Audience Personally
Notable Health Care Advertising
// By Peter Hochstein //
As the health sciences have advanced, pressure to see more patients in less time has also grown. Little wonder that doctor-patient relationships often seem less personal—and consequently less satisfying—than they once were.
It was just this kind of society-wide malaise that provided a branding opportunity for Atrius Health, a nonprofit independent group practice that resulted from a 2004 merger of four differently named group practices. As of last August, Atrius had 28 different locations in the Greater Boston area, serving a total of 675,000 adult and pediatric patients.
Market research indicated that while Atrius patients had high awareness of the practice’s brand name, “they really didn’t understand what it stood for, didn’t know whether this was an organization that came in and took over their group … or what Atrius was about,” says Marci Sindell, Chief Strategy Officer and Senior Vice President of External Affairs at Atrius.
Marci Sindell, Chief Strategy Officer and Senior Vice President of External Affairs at Atrius Health
Awareness among non-patients was much lower, Sindell adds, while even many Atrius employees had fuzzy impressions of their employer. “There was some perception that Atrius was just the back office, and didn’t incorporate everyone” [who worked there], she says.
CXO Communication, a Boston branding firm, conducted the revealing market research. It then hammered out a tag line that focused squarely on the patients: “Care. About You.”
Next Proverb, a Boston advertising agency, was brought in to expand the line into an advertising campaign.
Thanks to the research, “We started our assignment with a real wind to our backs,” says Daren Bascome, Managing Director of Proverb. His brief was clear: “Highlight the advantages of Atrius and explain why they’re better and different.”