In a health care market where hospitals are increasingly offering minimally invasive surgeries, it?s no easy task for a hospital to differentiate its services.
But the University of Maryland Medical Center is hopeful that its recently launched advertising campaign will help sway consumers when making important medical decisions.
The new ads, created by Baltimore advertising agency Trahan Burden & Charles, are patient-focused and convey the message that when patients choose the University of Maryland Medical Center?s minimally invasive therapy center, they are treated by an entire team of doctors, specialists and nurses, some of whom are faculty members at the university and are educating other providers in the latest minimally invasive procedures.
“We think that give us some uniqueness that our surgeons are out there teaching other surgeons,” said David Brond, the medical center?s vice president of marketing and planning. “In any marketplace, the goal is to differentiate yourself from other [providers]. These ads convey the idea that we really put the patient first and determine what is the best course of treatment for each individual patient.”
Brond said the ads will run throughout the summer in selected print publications in the greater Baltimore region, on outdoor signage such as light-rail train station displays, and on posters in trains and bus sides. The campaign also includes a local radio component and Internet advertising. Bond declined to say how much the medical center is spending on the new campaign, citing competitive reasons.
According to Jason Middleton, associate creative director at Trahan Burden & Charles, the ads offer testimonials from patients about their experiences with the minimally invasive therapy center that he expects to resonate with potential patients based on qualitative and quantitative research conducted last summer.
“In each execution, [the ad] is telling the story from the point of view of the patient,” said Middleton. “I think [the campaign] really highlights a new buzz within the hospital that consumers really want to know about. Nobody likes to be cut head to toe.”
He added that one of the other highlights of the creative that he expects to appeal to consumers is the visual depiction of patients holding inanimate objects that represent the size of their surgery scar.
