Judith L. Ward

A Higher Level of Heart and Vascular Care

In 2007 I was hired by Danbury Hospital as a Director of Marketing.  My first charge was to refresh the brand of the hospital and create brand awareness in our primary and secondary market areas.  Foundational work included standardizing logo structure and creation of the tagline "A Higher Level of Care".  I then developed a long-term marketing plan for the hospital which was approved by the board.  The first step in this long-term plan emphasized promoting the excellence of services provided by the hospital.  This ad promotes the heart and vascular services for the hospital and highlights its excellence as measured by Healthgrades.  It ultimately raised top-of-mind recall for this service line by 20% as measured by consumer research.

Click on the multimedia tag to hear radio and tv advertisements.

A Higher Level of Weight Loss Surgery

Danbury Hospital's Weight Loss Surgery Center was highlighted as one of the key product offerings for the hospital and was included in the initial campaign.  These ads were developed to create a line-look for the hospital, helping consumers recognize the Danbury Hospital brand.  All highlighted product lines were promoted with newspaper and magazine ads, as well as, radio and television ads.

A Higher Level of Preventive Care

Our consumer research showed that preventive and wellness care were key recognizable attributes to the Danbury patient experience.  We included this ad in the line up to appeal to our potential patients and their families.  Other service lines included were Orthopedic Surgery and Spine Surgery.  I worked with executive leadership, physician leaders, board members and other key stakeholders to get concensus and approval for the campaign.  During the process, I was promoted to Vice President of Marketing and Planning for the hospital.  The campaign ultimately raised top-of-mind recall by 13%.  Hospital avoidance dropped to a record 3% and call volume and web visits started to climb.

Click on multimedia tab to hear radio and view television advertisements.

Danbury Hospital Brand Refresh 2009

After 2 years in the market with the clinical excellence ads it was time to implement phase 2 of the overall advertising strategy.  The "Higher Level of Care" tagline was now being used by employees and patients alike as they described the hospital and it's services.  Now was the time to give that tagline some legs and further explain what a "Higher Level of Care" meant.  This launch ad highlighted all service lines, while highlighting the softer side of patient care and delivery - showing our new planetree status.

A Higher Level of Heart and Vascular Care, Vol. 2

The boxes approach was used as a creative method to tell potential patients all the facts they could consider as they choose their medical provider.  Consumer research was conducted again as the final creative concept was awarded.  The boxes campaign won out over another, inventive concept.

A Higher Level of Orthopedic and Spine Care

The line-look approach was again used with this campaign.  Print, TV and radio tactics were also employed.  In addition, direct mail pieces supported the look and feel.  This time, however, we employed some different tactics.

A Higher Level of Maternity Care

Social media.  Our facebook followers were growing as was our twitter account of followers.  Social media icons on our advertising, publications and collateral were helping to drive this awareness.  Maternity patients are an excellent example of a prime market for the social media marketing venue.  In fact, we found the more we reached out on social media, the more response we got from our patients and their families.

A Higher Level of Spine Care

Orthopedic and Spine services are another great example of service lines that can and should be promoted in typical mediums (print, tv and radio), as well as using supportive mediums - especially the web.  What's the first thing you do when you or a loved one are diagnosed - or referred to a physician.  I know I google it, how about you?