In one year, St. Joseph Healthcare System, has shaken the Albuquerque, N.M., market up with "Sister Rosalie," its outspoken brand-building icon. Ironically, the 95-year-old Catholic provider was deemed "a silent giant that is completely unpositioned" by market research last year. In the last three years, the hospital spent no money on mass media advertising.
Before Sister Rosalie, who embodies spiritual compassion, wit and spunk, made her debut last Fall, only 15 percent of the public was aware of the hospital, ranking it a distant third behind Presbyterian Healthcare at 49 percent and Cigna's Lovelace Hospital at 47 percent.
To cut through the "soft, warm and fuzzy" type of advertising that shaped the area's marketing landscape, Rick Johnson & Co., a full-service advertising agency also based in Albuquerque, gave birth to Sister Rosalie.
The campaign's creative approach portrays Sister Rosalie as an entertaining, assertive symbolic representation of the compassionate medical care offered at St. Joseph's.
The advertising also transcends "Catholic" stereotypes by putting Sister Rosalie in unique situations - on a swing, riding a bike and in a convertible car - to give her a personality that customers can relate to.
Soon, the agency realized that the Sister Rosalie image "had a lot of legs for long-term branding initiatives," says Pam Schneider, Rick Johnson's senior VP.
The $750,000 television, print, outdoor advertising and radio campaign is off to an impressive start.
Top-of-mind awareness increased to 27 percent up from 15 percent in three months and positive consumer phone calls (about the campaign) to the hospital and the agency remain steady at four calls a week.
The campaign, launched last Fall, has also earned top regional industry honors, including two American Advertising Federation Addy awards and "Marketer of the Year" from the American Marketing Association.
Going Out On a Limb
The Sisters of Charity, the order to which the hospital belongs and which oversees its mission, initially held reservations about the creative approach. "They were concerned about the tone of the message and the commercials possibly offending members of the community," says Janet Blair, St. Joseph's PR director.
Eventually most of the Sisters warmed to the concept but suggested that Sister Rosalie should look like the nun from the "Father Dowling Mystery" TV show. The agency won a collective nod of approval from the order when they tracked down the actual habit worn by the character in the TV series for use in the campaign.
The agency and hospital received a few calls of disapproval about Sister Rosalie shortly after the campaign launched, but overall, she was a big hit in Albuquerque, where 65 percent of the market is Catholic.
The highest profile support came from the Archdiocese which embraced the campaign for showing Catholicism in a positive light.
Looking Ahead
Using an "information pyramid" media approach, the campaign started with billboard advertising for quick awareness (minimal information) then television and radio and concluded with four-color full-page print ads for maximum information.
Keeping campaign momentum high is the agency's key challenge. So far, Sister Rosalie has stirred the market up, according to Schneider, who says Presbyterian and Lovelace have recently launched new campaigns of their own.
The next phase of the campaign will focus more on specific hospital products and services, including its five centers of excellence that target seniors, women and heart patients as well as a new PSO (provider-sponsored organization) health plan, pending HCFA approval.
For the PSO, marketing plans are underway to have Sister Rosalie alongside physicians to stress how the doctor-patient relationship drives the kind of care offered at St. Joseph's.
Next year, Sister Rosalie's look will have to evolve, says Schneider, to become more contemporary. Her habit may get shorter and she may show some hair. "It will be important to have a Sister [from the Sisters of Charity] on the set next time."
(St. Joseph Healthcare System, Janet Blair, 505/727-4322; Rick Johnson, Pam Schneider, 505/266-1100)
Rick Johnson & Co.
Headquarters: Albuquerque, N.M.
Founded: 1977
Revenues: $30 million
Employees: 79
Clients: New Mexico Tourism Board, McDonald's (Central Coast)