Ad campaign gets to the ‘heart’ of the matter
The Vanderbilt Heart & Vascular Institute is embarking on its first advertising campaign in five years, a $1 million multi-media effort aimed at health care consumers and referring physicians.
“Vanderbilt has built a stellar team of cardiologists, cardiac and vascular surgeons and cardiac interventionalists, and this is the beginning of a multi-year commitment to build awareness for our heart and vascular program,” said Doug Vaughan, M.D., director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine.
The campaign kicked off Nov. 4 with a “teaser” commercial that introduced the heart program at Vanderbilt. Three television spots will follow, focusing on the consumers of heart services and highlighting the revolution of heart care today. The theme of the campaign is “It's where heart is headed.”
The first phase of the campaign continues through next year and is aimed at women 24-65, baby boomers who can influence aging parents, and the 20-50-year-old audience with heart disease or a family history of it. The advertising strategy will evolve over the next several years, said Michele Toungette, VHVI’s chief business development officer.
“Vanderbilt Medical Center's advertising campaigns have been enormously successful in building consumer awareness of the world-class services offered here,” she said. “It's our goal to generate this same kind of awareness and community presence for our heart program.”
The new campaign includes radio, print, television and Internet components. Ads directed toward community physicians promote collaboration between them and VHVI to provide seamless care for patients in outlying areas. Red is the new signature color for Vanderbilt Heart and it will be introduced in the teaser and then carried throughout the rest of the campaign.
“The campaign is designed to create a pause in the consumer's mind when considering heart care. We want them to know that they have options,” said John Byrne, M.D., chair of the Department of Cardiac Surgery. “This is why we are creating a new kind of heart care in Nashville. We believe we are doing that through innovations such as re-growing damaged heart muscle, using new imaging techniques and discovering new treatment options that facilitate faster recovery.”
“Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Tennessee, accounting for more than 15,000 deaths a year,” said Jeff Samz, CEO of VHVI. “Vanderbilt's research and state-of-the-art technology is paving the way for heart disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment.”
For more information, visit the new Web sites www.whereheartisheaded.com and www.vanderbiltheart.com.