The industry shift toward innovative branding, strategic planning and creative use of limited resources is evident in the winning campaigns of Healthcare PR and Marketing News' 1997 "Best PR & Marketing Campaigns."
These efforts prove that healthcare communicators can and do "think outside of the box" to reach targeted audiences with compelling image-shaping campaigns.
The three winning campaigns-two in the PR category and one in marketing-will be recognized at the Customer Based Strategies conference in Phoenix, May 3-5.
The second annual contest drew more than twice the entries we received last year. The panel of editors, marketers and PR professionals were impressed by the volume of entries and the caliber of campaigns, which reflect growing industry demand for sophisticated integrated communication initiatives. As a result, we are adding a new contest category of "marcom" next year.
This special issue profiles the winning campaigns starting below and on pages 4 and 5. The campaigns offer stealable ideas and strategies for public affairs, employee relations and integrated branding.
For "Best PR," the winners are:
- Eisner, Petrou & Associates of Baltimore, Md., for its image-boosting internal communications effort on behalf of The Children's National Medical Center after a series of aggressive lay-offs and corporate restructuring; and
- The Randolph Partnership of Atlantafor its statewide, multi-faceted public awareness campaign that supported The Georgia Coalition on Donation.
In the "Best Marketing" category the winner is:
- Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital of Parkesburg, W.V., for its aggressive regional branding campaign.
HCPR also cited several campaigns worthy of honorable mentions, including:
- American Academy of Dermatology, Chicago, for its public awareness campaign about skin cancer detection.
- Rockford Health System, Rockford, Ill., for its media relations campaign involving an historical hospital procedure for the delayed delivery of twins.
- Florida Hospital, Orlando, for its senior-targeted health plan marketing campaign.