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ADVERTISING - April '98 The Rx for Effective Advertising
Well, he was almost right. The perfected pump still eludes us, but there is no doubt that the healthcare industry is at the top of the charts in terms of costs, priorities and growth. For regional advertising agencies, it's been a welcome boost, because health care delivery is a local affair. And right now, in communities all over America, medical service facilities are scrambling to establish their brands. You can't miss the rush. Prime time TV used to be the exclusive domain of happy family products like shampoo and cake mixes, but not anymore. Now family time is knee-deep in a rising tide of spots for prescription drugs, cancer treatments, incontinence, diets, exercise, eye care, doctors, clinics, and, of course... hospitals.
Bedside Manner As you'd expect, there's a lot of claptrap being spewed about, with all the predictable ploys showing up in abundance. And when it comes to persuading people to use one medical facility over another, the most effective messages are not the ones that worship the MD-ities, but the ones that make people feel welcome. Sorry, docs. Get off the stage and back on the case.
Same song, millionth verse? The "we care" chorus comes next. These are the campaigns that tell us how deeply concerned they are with the human aspects of our infected innards. The overriding takeaway from their ads is their all-consuming concern for the "real folks" inside us. Well, there's certainly nothing wrong with that. But from an advertising point of view, it's a loser, simply because we've all heard that song a million times before. And why are we supposed to believe it now?
Equipment managers Even less inviting are the equipment flaunters. The health facilities that openly brag about their multi-million dollar MRI and CT units are simply campaigning in the wrong ward. They should take a hint from GE, which advertises the same hardware on TV, but never forgets to put their money on a kid with a stuffed animal. That's what this hi-tech stuff is all about. It's for the kids, the pregnant moms, the dads who can't work, and all the grandmas who fell down and can't get up. So, you hardware hawkers out there, try to remember that it's not the equipment, the new wing, the helicopters or the computers. It's little Jimmy, and his stuffed toy, Sam.
A moving message
The baby and the lady-in-waiting shown in the print ad are part of a totally believable and natural campaign that doesn't have a pretentious pixel in its body. It speaks volumes about caring, doctoring, nursing and healing without making a single claim. It has the heft of humanity without contrivance. That's great advertising. That's the difference between saying you're something, and really being it.
Dennis Altman is a professor of advertising and public relations at the University of Kentucky.
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Sixty years ago
Buckminster Fuller said, "By 1998, the artificial heart will be perfected, and it
will quickly create the biggest industry in the world."
And speaking of
babies, moms and dads, have you seen the biggest baby of all? The creative people at the
Cornett Group have sent it tooling around Lexington on both sides of a city bus. Instead
of jumping on the predictable path, creative director Vicki Brougher conceived a campaign
that does it all. And the line, "We're Big on Babies," doesn't need another
word.