Preferred but not chosen. It's like being the smart, funny guy everyone loves who finds himself dateless at his fraternity brother's wedding and the company holiday party. Every year.
OHSU was That Guy. A top-ranked medical school and national leader for research and patient-centered care, they were perplexed. Why were people in their own backyard turning to smaller hospitals with fewer experts for routine specialty care? Patient satisfaction scores were fantastic. Name recognition and community pride were off the charts. It didn't make sense. And with state budget cuts squeezing their ability to provide care to uninsured. So they hired us to increase their competitive edge, make the phone ring and win the rivalry.
We started by asking ourselves, “What do we promise to do every day for our community?” OHSU provides the best opportunity for the best outcome for every patient, but saying that wouldn't be enough. We needed to provide people with proof and then let them draw their own conclusions. Our strategy was to identify and communicate what OHSU can offer that others can't: Unmatched and ever-growing, deep bench strength and a commitment to healing people today while working toward tomorrow's cures. To communicate this, our goals in developing a brand promise were to:
- Establish consumer relevance and connection to OHSU Clinical, Teaching and Research entities.
- Differentiate OHSU's brand of healthcare from the competition.
- Communicate not only the brand promise to the consumer, but inspire and engage internal and external stakeholders around that promise.
“The knowledge of all for the care of one.”
We then went on to develop an integrated campaign that included the following elements:
- Advertising: print, radio, TV, web, video, billboard
- Magazine publications
- Events & promotions
Today, OHSU is firmly reestablished as Oregon's top provider for routine specialty care.
