Devaney & Associates and Carroll Hospital, a LifeBridge Health center received a 2018 Gold Aster Award and 2018 Silver Aster Award for an advertising campaign. One of the largest national competitions of its kind, The Aster Awards is hosted by Marketing Healthcare Today Magazine and Creative Images, Inc. This elite program recognized outstanding healthcare professionals for excellence in their advertising/marketing efforts for the calendar year 2017.
Carroll Hospital, a nonprofit health care system that has served the people of Carroll County, Maryland and the surrounding region for more than 55 years, sought to educate the community on a very simple—but often neglected—step to better health: getting an annual check-up.
When research revealed that audiences were resistant due to misinformation and fear, Devaney & Associates blended relatable humor with hard-hitting facts to show that an annual check-up is simultaneously “no big deal” and a vital part of taking care of yourself.
“The campaign is an inspiring example of how a mission-driven organization should use its marketing power,” said Diane Devaney, president, Devaney & Associates.
“While many health care organizations focus their marketing efforts on promoting big-ticket services, Carroll Hospital dedicated a significant portion of its marketing calendar and budget to building a healthier community by urging people to schedule an annual check-up—with any Primary Care Physician, hospital-affiliated or otherwise.”
The integrated campaign, which targeted three unique groups—seniors, mothers of young families, and young men—delivered astounding results, including 4.7 million impressions, nearly 12,000 unique visitors to the campaign landing page, and a digital advertising click-through rate 1.5 times higher than the national average.
“I am extremely proud of our team for creating such an effective and out of the box campaign,” said Ellen Finnerty Myers, chief development officer and vice president of corporate development, Carroll Hospital. “But I’m even more pleased to see the community’s response.
Building a healthier community is our number one priority at Carroll Hospital. And the Annual Check-Up campaign helped us to take one step closer to meeting this goal.”
The 2018 Aster Awards received thousands of entries from across the United States as well as several foreign countries. All entries were reviewed by a panel of industry experts and scored on multiple criteria with a possibility of 100 total points. Participants’ entries competed against similar-sized organizations in their specific groups and categories.
Gold Awards were issued for entries that received top marks from judges placing them in the top 5% of the nation for advertising excellence, and Silver Awards were issued for being in the top 12%. Judging criteria included creativity, layout and design, functionality, message effectiveness, production quality and overall appeal.
