Lisa Hayes, right, assistant director of Marketing, shows off the new branding campaign on the Vanderbilt Web site to Denise Leveque of Cardiology.
Photo by Dana Johnson
New ad campaign focuses on patients
Vanderbilt University Medical Center will roll out a new advertising campaign later this summer that showcases those who know the institution the best — its patients.
The multi-media campaign was created as part of VUMC's commitment to elevate and is designed to both maintain and strengthen the Medical Center's position as the preferred provider of health care services in the region.
Three newly produced television spots will focus on the consumers of VUMC's services in scenes that highlight the personal nature of health care today. The first speaks to the needs of adults who are caring for their own children as well as their aging parents; the second humanizes the treatment process, showing patients as individuals rather than merely a diagnosis; and the third stresses the value of the time spent with physicians and all members of the care team and with having questions answered and treatment options explained.
The new campaign will include radio, print and internet components and was introduced to staff and faculty at a special preview earlier this week in Light Hall. By design, the new campaign is a way to begin personalizing the message VUMC sends to its consumers, said Jill Austin, chief marketing officer.
“It's shifting things from an institutional perspective and taking the focus down to a one-on-one level. It's really a parallel to what's going on in health care itself with the move toward personalized medicine,” Austin said. “And it goes hand in hand with the patient commitment principles of elevate that Vanderbilt has so successfully implemented.”
VUMC's advertising campaigns have been enormously successful in building consumer awareness of the world-class services offered here. Just nine years ago VUMC was ranked fourth in preference in the Nashville market. Thanks to consistent, brand-building efforts such as the “Hearts and Minds” campaign, the Medical Center took over the top spot in 2000 and has remained there ever since.
“Building awareness, or branding, is an asset, and just like any other type of asset, you have to invest in it to maintain it and grow it,” Austin said. “Branding lays the groundwork for response on the part of consumers — it helps them choose.
In health care, these choices are often made quickly by people who are under stress, so it's crucial to maintain the kind of awareness that keeps Vanderbilt foremost in consumers' minds.
“In a moment of choice, we want people to choose us,” Austin said.
For more information and to view the new campaign, go to http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/root/stories/ads.