At this time of year, it's priority one for healthcare communicators to break through the holiday clutter with innovative promotions. Whether your budget is big or small, it can be done. The holidays are an exciting time to showcase your image by saying "thank you" to the community, partnering with other organizations for outreach efforts and expanding fundraising efforts.
The key is delivering a message that is already meaningful to your community and target audiences, says Nancy Turett, president of the healthcare and consumer division at Edelman Public Relations Worldwide in New York. Her column provides several holiday promotional ideas to integrate into existing health initiatives.
Here, HPRMN profiles a cross-section of unique hospital-based holiday promotions that offer stealable ideas for spreading Christmas cheer.
Lights On the Bay
The Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) in Annapolis, Md., is illuminating the shores of the Chesapeake Bay with a holiday light display called "Lights on the Bay." This is the fourth year for the event, which will be on display from Nov. 20 to Jan. 3 and includes more than 50 stationary and animated displays of traditional holiday scenes and regional exhibits on the 2.5-mile drive along the Bay Bridge in Sandy Point State Park. AAMC is the only hospital in the market that hosts a light show of this kind.
The display, expected to attract 21,000 cars, is becoming holiday tradition, according to Vicki Fretwell, AAMC's light show coordinator, who says attendance has increased 15 percent each year.
This year's theme is "Animal Kingdom" and will feature the U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen tossing their hats in the air and a colonial village modeled after old-time Annapolis.
Planning started in March when corporate sponsors were recruited, and decisions were made about lighting displays and promotions. It costs $200,000 to $270,000 to rent and purchase displays and promote the event, says Fretwell. This year, the hospital is expecting to break even and next year possibly make a profit, says Mary Lou Baker, who heads up the PR effort for the event.
The event is attracting significant coverage from the local newspaper, radio and TV stations. The local cable station, which is also a sponsor, developed a half-hour program about the display that airs frequently throughout each week. Newspaper advertising and direct mail support the effort.
Ultimately their goal is to become the biggest light show in the Mid-Atlantic, which will require increased corporate sponsorship and expanded displays, says Fretwell.
Online Gift Store
To capitalize on the holiday gift-giving season and increasing consumer interest in Internet shopping, the Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle launched its Children's Online Store on Nov. 27. The store can be accessed through the hospital's Web site at http://www.seattlechildrens.org. and sells four gift product lines - children's safety items, gifts and apparel, adult gifts and promotional specialty items. Online store gifts include three-day earthquake survival kits, reflective bicycle helmets, baby blankets and bath gift sets.
Children's Hospital is the only provider in the market to launch an online gift store, says Dean Forbes, media relations manager for the hospital. What differentiates the online store from other e-commerce sites is an on-screen invoice that allows customers to make instant updates. At checkout, the invoice includes color photos of the items the shopper has chosen.
Proceeds from the store's sales will go into a hospital fund that pays for uncompensated healthcare services. The store's tag line is "The more you shop, the more you help a child."
The store was promoted with a direct mail campaign that targeted 60,000 Seattle-area households with children and the hospital's current print campaign includes the Web site URL.
(AAMC, Mary Lou Baker, Vicki Fretwell, 410/267-1373; Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Dean Forbes, 206/368-4817)