Response was immediate. In post-campaign measurements, the hospital marketing director noted “the largest single day in the ER in our history.” Patient visits increased by an average of nearly 10 people per day. Fueled by that success, Kaleida Health invited SKM Group to tackle marketing challenges for two other prominent hospitals in the system.
Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo is a Top 20 pediatric hospital in the United States. In a typical year, the hospital delivers more than 3,000 babies. It is Western New York’s Regional Center for Specialized Pediatric and Women’s Health Care. Every critical care specialty is on-site or on-call, including ground and air neonatal intensive care transport teams.
The hospital was concerned that birth counts were slipping. At the same time, it wanted to maximize awareness of its world-class capabilities to expectant families and physicians in the region. SKM Group created a strong, simple brand position that achieved both objectives: We deliver peace of mind. In other words, no matter what might go wrong for a mother or physician, Women & Children’s had every possible solution in place to help make it right.
This brand promise was delivered in two heartwarming television commercials featuring infants only a few hours old. It was supported with an inviting social media microsite that offers expectant mothers a host of information, connections and referral opportunities.
Women & Children's Newborns TVC
For DeGraff Memorial Hospital, the marketing challenge was different, but no less important to Kaleida Health. DeGraff is a nearly 100-year old institution on the north side of Buffalo. Its first patient in 1915 was a child with a stomach ache; the hospital bill came to 15 cents.
The Kaleida campus resembles a New England college. Walls are brown-bricked and covered with ivy. The rich history adds charm, and over the years, that physical charm transformed into a belief within the hospital that highly personalized care was a special and natural part of the DeGraff experience.
The hospital was eager to promote how much they cared for patients. But SKM Group knew there had to be more to the story. The agency did some digging and discovered a world-class performance story. DeGraff is the region’s recognized leader in retinal surgery, and also excels in orthopedics, general surgery, critical care and rehabilitation.
For the emergency room – a prime and profitable point of entry for hospitals – DeGraff had two rock-solid advantages. First, every physician is board-certified in emergency medicine. Secondly, the average wait time in the ER is less than 10 minutes. Faced with growing competition from neighborhood clinics and urgent care centers, SKM Group knew this was the feature story.
The agency created a new brand position that fit the performance and personality of the hospital perfectly: The DeGraff Difference. Then, SKM highlighted those differences in television and direct mail with a visual style that really brought it alive: a 4-color over sepia technique that features one person in color – and vividly illustrates how special each person is at DeGraff.
View DeGraff TVC
Both campaigns are now underway so it will take time to measure the results. But for Kaleida Health, the power to communicate unique and powerful brand positions and performance statements for 3 hospitals, under the same family umbrella, appears to be the prescription for success.
