2024 Update – This post has been updated with a new healthcare ad that caught our attention for 2024 and deserved inclusion. This year, some of the most powerful new healthcare ads use people-first healthcare marketing campaigns. When patients – and even staff – are the focus, the results can be gratifying and effective.
Healthcare marketing isn’t just about making great ads, but a good ad doesn’t hurt.
At Echo-Factory, we’re a strategy-first healthcare marketing agency. We believe in identifying the problem our clients are trying to solve and then developing and executing a strategy that does just that.
Sometimes, “a great ad” is part of that strategy. We’re very proud of some healthcare marketing campaigns we’ve done.
However, for this exercise, we excluded our work to develop a list of seven of the best healthcare ads from recent marketing campaigns, each representing a lesson that healthcare growth agencies could apply to their work going forward.
Here they are.
Mount Sinai Faces of Care
Advertiser: Mount Sinai Health System
This new healthcare ad is part of Mount Sinai Health System’s “Faces of Care” series, which features employees. Instead of focusing on doctors or new surgical or diagnostic equipment, this ad speaks to patients by showing them that their hospital is full of professionals who are all working together to deliver safe, high-quality care.
We appreciate the innovative inclusion of people doing jobs outside of what most potential patients expect to see in the hospital. By sharing so many actual Mount Sinai employees doing their jobs with dedication, you can imagine your own care at Mount Sinai—likely with a greater sense of ease and trust.
Key Takeaway: By focusing on your patients through the lens of your staff and culture of care, you can ease patient concerns and build trust.
Hipster Disease in Wyoming
Advertiser: Wyoming Health Department
Do you want to kill the mood at Thanksgiving? Bring up the topic of vaccinations.
Healthcare marketers (and conflict-averse Thanksgiving participants) tend to avoid hot-button issues, but the Wyoming Department of Health took a different approach.
In the summer of 2023, hot on the tail of COVID-19, the health department in one of the least vaccinated states in the country addressed the issue head-on: with humor.
Key Takeaway: Humor, done well, can disarm controversial topics.
Keep Making Plans With OhioHealth
Advertiser: OhioHealth
Cancer is a bummer in the worst way possible. So, how do you promote cancer care with optimism?
It’s tempting for hospitals to focus on the fancy new cancer technology they invested in or the ranking they just got for cancer care in U.S. News. It’s possible you could execute successfully on those well-worn paths, but we like OhioHealth’s very different direction with their Keep Making Plans hospital advertising campaign.
Key Takeaway: Focus on the results from healthcare advertising for your hospital, not the process.
“We Got a New Piece of Technology” Is, for Once, a Compelling Direction
Advertiser: Inspira Health Network
If you’ve worked in healthcare marketing, you’ve undoubtedly encountered the familiar phenomenon: A hospital buys an expensive piece of equipment and thinks patients will be excited to see ads around that piece of equipment.
Of course, you and I know that patients don’t care about the $6 million the hospital spent on a fancy new MRI, the $100 million specialty treatment wing, or even the expensive new robotic surgery tools.
Unless that is, we can find a creative way to make them care.
Which is exactly what Inspira Health did.
Key Takeaway: Patients will not care about “capital improvement projects” unless you find a creative way to make them care with medical ads (focused on treating illness) supporting your healthcare marketing and advertising campaigns (focused on preventing illness).
For Your Consideration: A Hospital
Advertiser: Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center
If you live in Los Angeles, you’ll be quite familiar with the “For Your Consideration” ads that show up yearly around the film industry award season: Hollywood studios trying to get various entertainment industry members to pick their shows for the Oscars, Emmys, and more.
Patients of Providence St. Joseph, based in Burbank, CA, experience this every year. So, the hospital decided to spoof the phenomenon in a clever healthcare campaign with outdoor hospital advertising.
Key Takeaway: Don’t tell your audience how you’re a part of their community; show them.
Swipe Right to Meet the HCP of Your Dreams
Advertiser: Zocdoc
We all like talking about ourselves, but sometimes it’s better to engage our audience at the point of their needs.
This is exactly what Zocdoc did with their “Gets You” campaign.
Key Takeaway: Put yourself in your audience’s POV.
Bonnie Tyler for Children’s Health Dallas
Advertiser: Children’s Health
“Total Eclipse of the Heart” is an all-time banger; we can all agree on that unequivocally. It also came with a fantastic music video featuring Bonnie Tyler’s mind-blowing hair, which was remade into a fantastic literal music video.
All that’s very obvious. What wasn’t obvious was how perfect it is as the backing for an ad for a children’s hospital.
Oh sure, “Total Eclipse” is great for a Dos Equis parody, but sick kids?
Grab your tissue box and watch Children’s Health Dallas’ “Incredible. Together. Anthem.”
“Bonnie Tyler makes you empty your bank account to support a children’s hospital in Texas” wasn’t on my bingo card, yet here we are.
Key Takeaway: Bringing two things together that don’t seem to belong together can have incredibly powerful results.
Let’s Create Your Next Great Healthcare Marketing Campaign
If you’re a healthcare organization looking to reach your audience more effectively, we can help. We’ve been working with hospitals, health systems, medical groups, and medical technology providers for more than 15 years, helping them to grow and achieve their marketing goals.
We’d be happy to help you. Just reach out.
