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A Model Public Relations Program

Sometimes, it is only the fact that a product or service is not well known that prevents a given business from achieving the success it desires. When this is the case, public relations and marketing can combine to reverse a downward trend providing a workable strategy is chosen and the means to implement it exists.

An Image Problem

During the mid 1980’s, a hospital in Van Nuys, California was faced with an image problem. It was a good hospital with excellent patient satisfaction, yet many local physicians refused to use the facility. The general public, with the exception of those who lived nearby and those who had personal encounters with the hospital, were unaware of its existence. Add to this the fact that a much larger hospital located just two miles away shared almost the identical name.

The marketing department, under my direction, uncovered that local physicians would have been more willing to admit patients to the hospital if it had a better reputation within the community. As a result, we determined that the best strategy to use would be to "sell" the hospital to the public and then market the hospital’s new image to the medical community.

The name of the Hospital was Valley Hospital Medical Center and its major competitor was Valley Presbyterian Hospital. Both were located in Van Nuys. We decided to attack Valley Presbyterian, a hospital the community knew well, through a positioning campaign.

Taking Advantage of a Golden Opportunity

Then, opportunity struck for a loud sweeping campaign. The Van Nuys Area Chamber of Commerce (now called Mid-Valley) announced its plan to create a major two-week long event to celebrate the community’s seventy-fifth anniversary. Valley Hospital gained permission from its corporate office to be a major sponsor of the celebration, beating the larger hospital to this exclusive opportunity. We created an advertising theme around the slogan “Here first, look what we’re up to now.”

Launching a Campaign with a Big Bang

The day the celebration began, an aggressive, wide reaching advertising and public relations campaign was launched throughout the San Fernando Valley. Ads ran in local papers and on radio. Billboards appeared throughout Van Nuys (one right next to Valley Presbyterian Hospital), and a newsletter was sent to every local resident.

Using Contests to Raise Brand Awareness

The hospital received promotion through programs and events. It ran contests and gave away major prizes, which enticed local residents to study the hospital and learn its services. One of these contests was held at a large community event where around 10,000 people attended. Thousands of pieces of promotion were handed out announcing the contest which required people to memorize several services of the hospital. The promotion stated that people were in the crowd selecting attendees to respond to key questions about the hospital. Those who answered correctly would win a prize. Among the prizes was a cruise to Mexico. Twenty-four prizes were given away. Amazingly, only one individual who answered the questions incorrectly. If the sample we took was accurate, in just one day, nearly 10,000 people memorized facts we wanted them to know about our hospital and its services.

A second newsletter was sent with a crossword puzzle and a prize giveaway. Those entering the contest were forced to read the entire newsletter to find the answers to the puzzle. Nearly 1,000 people responded and over half answered the puzzle entirely correct.

There were several other aspects to the campaign. When it was over, the community was fully aware of the hospital.

Next, a campaign was launched targeting the medical community which promoted the hospital’s new image, and it's high quality services. The result was a renewed interest in the hospital by the medical community. For several consecutive month’s the hospital set record admissions.