The Partner
Mercy Health, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based healthcare provider, combined two of the city’s most respected Orthopedics and Sports Medicine practices with its exceptional team of providers. This strategic move aimed to elevate the quality and access of musculoskeletal care in the region.
Opportunity
Upon merging these practices, Mercy Health faced the challenge of creating a cohesive brand and simplifying access to care for regional consumers. Traditional referral patterns were disrupted, necessitating a strategic partner to unify former competitors, build a brand and capture market share.
Approach
Following extensive regional consumer research, our team identified three key preferences for musculoskeletal care:
- Patients experiencing bone, muscle and joint pain desired a quick return to pain-free function.
- Provider reputation and patient experience were crucial when choosing a surgeon, often influenced by word-of-mouth.
- Before surgery could be recommended, patients with undiagnosed musculoskeletal pain prioritized affordability, convenience of location and timeliness of appointments when choosing a care network.
Integrating these findings with insights from physician stakeholders, we proposed an integrated regional marketing campaign themed “Stay in Motion.” This campaign resonated with patients’ desires to return to active, full lifestyles regardless of their age or health goals.
Campaign elements included:
- Broadcast advertising
- Out-of-home advertising
- New-mover direct mail
- Expansion and activation of athletic training contracts
- Extensive digital work, including landing page development, SEO, paid search, social media, online community curation and video series profiling injuries, treatments, and providers
Messages were tailored to different age groups and motivations, with all calls to action emphasizing the convenience of region-wide locations and the ease of accessing care through evening and weekend hours and no-appointment clinics.
Impact
The “Stay in Motion” campaign quickly paid dividends. In the first year, Mercy Health saw increased regional consumer awareness and preference for the enhanced service line. Additionally, the system experienced gains in market share across all its hospitals in the region. This resulted in a healthy service line, satisfied providers and a grateful patient base.