Catalina Island Health

Just 22 miles off the Southern California coast sits a healthcare ecosystem unlike any other in the nation. As the sole medical provider for Catalina Island, Catalina Island Health (CIH) operates a 24/7 emergency department, primary care clinic, physical therapy unit, fitness center, and the island’s only retail pharmacy. 

For 3 years running, Catalina Island Health has been in the top 5% of US healthcare providers for patient experience by Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award. Even with these accolades, the community suffered from an awareness gap. Many of the 4500+ Residents assumed the facility was only for midnight emergencies, exported routine care to the mainland, and remained largely unaware that the local pharmacy, and gym were all part of the same health system. For the 1,000,000+ people that visit the island every year, awareness of Catalina Island Health was largely unknown at all. 

Appointed as Agency of Record, Echo-Factory developed an overarching brand architecture, integrated digital ecosystem, and service-line growth campaign to unify CIH’s fragmented sub-brands, restore community trust, and position the system for a transformative capital campaign to build a new hospital.

THE APPROACH

Echo-Factory implemented an integrated, audience-first healthcare marketing framework designed to turn awareness into patient encounters:

Audience-First Positioning Matrix

• • Year-Round Residents (Primary Target): Shift perception from “emergency room” to “everyday health partner.” Implement bicultural and bilingual (Spanish) marketing tailored to the 70–80% Hispanic clinic demographic.
  • Part-Time Residents & Visitors (Secondary Target): Build trust around quality care, immediate prescription availability, and luxury wellness offerings.

Brand Architecture

Rather than executing a disruptive top-to-bottom rebrand, Echo-Factory applied design solutions to maintain sub-brand equity for the Hospital, Pharmacy and Fitness Center while establishing parent system ownership:

• • Master Lockup System: Retained the recognizable logo while updating endorsement lockups for sub-brands.
  • Design Systems: Standardize typography across print and web. 

Website Update & HIPAA-Compliant Multi-Site Ecosystem Management

Addressing a fragmented digital footprint across four distinct web properties, Echo-Factory created a tiered web strategy to balance immediate technical fixes with targeted rebuilds to turn passive visitors into engaged patients:

Integrated Marketing Campaign:

Catalina Island Health is not just the hospital. It’s also where you go to get strong, look your best, find the perfect gift, and pick up your prescriptions.

That’s the campaign. The pharmacy, the fitness center, and the med spa each prove that same single point.

• • Core Value Proposition: That place I trust on my worst day is part of my every day.
  • Real Photography & Video: Replaced stock imagery with authentic photos and video features of actual physicians, physical therapists, and frontline clinic staff.
  • Omnichannel Distribution: Deployed messaging across local print (The Catalina Islander), terminal displays (Catalina Express), community cable, targeted digital ads, and social media.