When the Lambda Medical Group opened its doors in Los Angeles in September, it had to do more than the average medical center to gain entree into the healthcare community. A fancy guest list and a ribbon cutting alone weren't going to do the job.
But integrated communications did.
The gay and lesbian communities historically have been under-served so the 26-year-old nonprofit L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center planned to open the Lambda primary care center to serve a population often neglected by mainstream healthcare systems. Its communications hook was networking with human resource heads, conduits to employers and health insurance providers, who agreed that the primary care center filled a need and helped LAGLC present a case.
At the same time, the center needed to cultivate both a brand and relationships to promote its healthcare services. The Lambda Medical Group wanted to reach gays and lesbians reluctant to go to mainstream healthcare providers - and, therefore, lacking proactive medical care.
"Convincing them [to offer this alternative to employees] wasn't difficult," says Keith Waterbrook, director of health and mental health services for LAGLC. "For instance, we talked to the head of benefits for Fox Studios and she told us that employees ask all the time where they can go for gay and lesbian healthcare services."
LAGLC was the first Los Angeles organization to offer HIV/AIDS medical care. Its Jeffrey Goodman Special Care Clinics for AIDS patients in Hollywood and mid-Wilshire have experienced a 33 percent increase in patients, up in the past several years from 1,000-plus to 2,100 annually. LAGLC is affiliated with the University of Southern California, which provides staff for the organization's healthcare facilities.
Equipped with a budget of just over $200,000, LAGLC hired marketing strategy and implementation firm Berbay Corp., Tarzana, Calif., which put together a team and developed an integrated approach, pulling from the disciplines of media relations, marketing and advertising. Efforts included ads in targeted gay and lesbian publications such as LA Weekly, Frontiers Magazine and Edge and marcom strategies which included signage, fact sheets and branding pieces. The team included:
- Waterbrook and Jim Fey, former LAGLC director of communications (now with Stoorza, Zieguas & Metzger PR firm);
- Berbay principal Sharon Berman and Berbay marketing consultant Cindy Crici-Malouin; and
- Johnson Gray Advertising Inc. executives Reagan Gray and Daniella Gasaway.
Today, the center has achieved impressive results. Several dozen local employers, including municipal government offices, Walt Disney Co., Wells Fargo, Paramount, Bank of America and insurers such as Blue Cross and Cigna, now include Lambda in their healthcare plans, with thousands of employees receiving this coverage option.
Aid beyond AIDS
But the corporate buy-in signals much more than political correctness. It's part of Lambda's lifeblood. With a yearly operating budget of $800,000 (not including $125,000 spent on start-up renovations), getting patients through its doors is key.
In the first few months after the 2,400-square-foot center opened, an average of 300 patients were treated each month. The yearly total is expected to top 1,800 - several hundred patients more than what the center slated. And more than 2,000 calls have come in through the 877-4-LAMBDA answering service. The number also appeared on outdoor billboards in high-traffic areas in and around Hollywood for several months.
The brand strategy was low-key and meant to deviate from the stereotypical stuff the mass media often latches onto when the topic involves gays and lesbians. "[Materials and promotions] didn't have pictures of hunky men or suggestive or erotic images," says Waterbrook. "We had to get the word out but we had to be careful about the image we put forth."
While about 30 percent of its patients do have AIDS-related health problems, the majority have other medical issues. A case of ovarian cancer was detected in one patient, and other low-income patients have been treated for potentially life-threatening diseases such as hypertension.
The center came to fruition through the $219,200 integrated campaign with brand development, marketing, print and radio advertising and direct mail. Funds were tagged for media relations in the local community, meeting with major employers and managed care organizations and helping the new-sprung center build a name for itself, according to Berman.
And it has.
It's not TV's "L.A. Doctors" but the scene is familiar: three physicians provide services from diagnosing heart disease to offering EKGs and gynecological care. Five other employees are support staffers. And its English/ Spanish bilingual brochures are clever. They feature same-sex parents holding children; the copy reads "Finally. Family Healthcare For Our Family."
Although the center didn't track media impressions, it did secure favorable press in the New York Times and on major networks and regional radio stations such as KFI and KABC.
Because so many variables come into play, it's impossible to attach a price tag to the value of one news plug.
But there is no doubt that a feature article with a headline that conveys your key message in several words and profiles a launch "as a new direction for the gay health care community" is commendable. On Oct. 12, 1998, brand team members awoke to a Los Angeles Times feature story, "Treatment, Not Judgment," about the center.
It wasn't just a little ink - it was recognition that the center is making a difference by giving gays and lesbians access to preventive - not reactive - healthcare. (Berbay Corp., 818/342-0088; Lambda, 323/993-7534)
The center sought a subtle image, but used a smart strategy: the term Lambda is tied to gay and lesbian circles, but most outsiders don't know that. The goal was to avoid drawing undue attention to people who are already the targets of bigotry and ostracism. A series of focus groups with about 50 gays and lesbians helped them gel the logo and the name.