One of the nation’s largest pediatric health systems was rapidly expanding its physical and reputational footprint with the addition of a hospital and several clinics, new centers of excellence and groundbreaking research. The organization wanted to also grow its visibility within the industry to support recruitment of top clinicians and staff, solicit new funding sources and attract patients from new geographic markets.
To accomplish this goal, the health system engaged Lovell Communications to focus a national spotlight on the leadership, excellence and innovation of the organization’s subject matter experts, specifically seeking out targeted media, speaking and award opportunities for its CEO.
The CEO joined the organization more than 20 years ago and was largely responsible for growing the health system from a single campus on the verge of bankruptcy to a leading health system with multiple campuses and more than 1,000 pediatric primary care facilities.
Strategy and Tactics
Lovell Communications conducted onsite intake interviews with the CEO and other executive leaders to develop a core set of topics and storylines to highlight the accomplishments of the organization and its top leader. Lovell identified that the CEO’s successful turnaround story was particularly timely and newsworthy, and the health system was experiencing explosive growth while many hospital operators across the country were struggling. Based on our deep knowledge of the industry and keen understanding of the angles that most interest health care media, we knew highlighting the health system’s operational, clinical and financial acumen would resonate with journalists and readers.
Execution and Results
Working hand in hand with the organization’s communications team, Lovell identified media, speaking and recognition opportunities that would raise awareness of the impressive success of the CEO and the health system. We used effective brand storytelling techniques to develop pitches for our various audiences and strategically selected top-tier opportunities.
In the first few months of the engagement, we booked a Chicago media tour and arranged for deskside briefings between the CEO and reporters/editors from Modern Healthcare, Becker’s Hospital Review and STAT News to discuss the organization’s plans for future growth and innovation. Within the first 12 months of engagement, we secured six articles in leading health care trade publications, three speaking opportunities at some of the industry’s most publicized and well-attended events and developed the submission that earned the CEO a place on Modern Healthcare’s Top 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare.
The message of growth was woven through every media pitch and award and speaking submission.
At the beginning of our partnership, the organization’s share of voice among its top five competitors was just 4%; within 12 months we moved the needle to 23%. By the end of our first full year of engagement, we secured more than 80 media placements to a potential audience of 215 million and the health system had achieved dominant share of voice among competitors in the western half of the country and #2 among competitors overall.