ALBUQUERQUE, NM: University of New Mexico Hospitals is using its patients’ own experiences across media platforms to tout its services and network as part of its Life Stories campaign.
The effort also includes educational outreach to New Mexicans so they understand the system has services for which they might have previously traveled out-of-state, said Billy Sparks, executive director of communications and marketing for UNM Hospitals.
The network also wants consumers to know that award-winning research has taken place within its system, and only 7% of its $1.7 billion budget comes from state appropriations, he added. It also treats both insured and uninsured patients.
"More and more revenue comes from clinical work and research grants," he explained. "[We want to] make sure our patients know what to expect and what’s available if something should happen to them and their family."
True to the campaign’s name, the system is helping patients tell their stories to show what level of care consumers can expect. One testimonial comes from a woman diagnosed with stomach cancer while five months pregnant.
"No one in this market was willing to treat her, but we were able to put together both the pediatric team, neo-natal intensive team, and cancer team," he said, so the patient could safely deliver her child and receive treatment.
Global Strategy Group is the public affairs AOR on the campaign, and it contracted RDW Group for creative support. The Albuquerque-based A+ Action Media, a production company with AMC’s hit Breaking Bad on its resumé, is handling local creative production, according to a press release.
The multiyear, multimillion-dollar campaign will also spotlight various aspects of the UNM health system. It will focus on patients’ stories in its cancer, neurosurgery, teaching hospital, trauma, and behavioral health centers, said Sparks.
The initiative will span digital, social, TV, print, and outdoor media, he added. Launched Sunday, it is running across New Mexico’s media market.
It also includes Millennial outreach. Sparks said reaching younger consumers through smartphones is "so important" because they are more likely to have Internet access on a smartphone than a computer. Digital billboards alongside interstates will also be a part of the campaign’s marketing, he added.
The hospital system is also translating some materials into Spanish because a significant portion of its target audience is bilingual, Sparks explained. UNMH also offers 24-hour translation services in Spanish, Navajo, and Vietnamese.
This story was updated on December 17 to correct A+ Action Media's role with the campaign.
