The lines are quickly blurring between offline and online marketing opportunities as PC-phobic consumers gain Internet access through their TV via a handful of interactive television (ITV) service providers. Methodist Health Care System is the first healthcare provider in Houston to take this multimedia bull by the horns.
Using WebTV, an ITV service provider, Methodist is reaching an intriguing consumer segment - TV junkies who are PC lightweights - through its 30-second commercials. The campaign, launched in October, supports the hospital system's Fall open enrollment marketing plans.
Houston area residents with WebTV access - roughly 16,000 - can click on the interactive "i" they see in the commercials and go directly to Methodist's Web site to find out more information about its hospitals, health plans and physicians.
The competitive marketing perks are exciting, says Erin Skelley, Methodist's Web communications specialist. "Everybody in healthcare tends to say the same thing in [regular] commercials to get people to use their healthcare services, but [WebTV] allows you to direct consumers to your Web site so they can do their own research whenever they want."
Currently, WebTV works through a converter box and an optional cordless keyboard that links viewers to the Web. Users pay a fee (about $260) for the converter box and a monthly Internet access charge. So far, WebTV's penetration is small at 800,000 subscribers nationwide, but usage is expected to skyrocket, especially among older audiences.
For advertisers, the costs are nominal. Methodist paid about $2,000 to have its commercial embedded with the necessary interactive links using Vitac, a close-captioning firm in Pittsburgh, Pa.
For hospitals, the cross-media utilization benefits are particularly exciting, says Robert Noel, a principal with Greystone.Net, the Atlanta-based interactive healthcare marketing consulting firm that suggested Methodist incorporate the technology into its advertising plans. In addition to the TV commercial application, WebTV is ideal for patient education efforts, patient surveys, clinical opportunities and hospital-sponsored television health programs.
So far, Greystone.Net is working with at least 19 hospitals on interactive marketing campaigns.
(Methodist, Erin Skelley, 713/793-1679; Vitac, Darryn Cleary, 724/514-4081; Greystone.Net, Robert Noel, 770/220-0229, ext. 103)