The November PSAMA luncheon featuring the PULSE Award-winning case study for Lifewise Health Plans gave the audience an inside look at how good, fundamental marketing combined with creative insights and outstanding execution can spell success for marketers.
Rod Fowler, Senior Manager – Marketing and Brand Management, Premera Blue Cross and Mike Hayward, Associate Creative Director, Copacino + Fujikado shared an overview of the process of developing and refining this award-winning campaign, complete with triumphs and hiccups.
Rod and Mike identified these three things as the driving impetus for the campaign:
1. Textbook magic: Campaign development began by using the fundamental tenets of marketing – lots of research, executive interviews and a thorough competitive review.
2. Went in with open ears: The team listened and gave customers what they wanted – peace of mind reassurance.
3. Authenticity and honesty work inside and out: The “boringly good” mantra has energized sales and the company as well.
Importantly, the client and agency marketing team gained a better understanding of their brand values, which led them to the conclusion that boring can be an attribute if the real need is to reduce drama in people’s lives. Thus, “Boringly Good” is an unexpected way to say “peace of mind”.
A significant note is that despite initial success in building awareness, post-flight research indicated that while the audience responded to the “boringly good” hook, they wanted to quickly move to substance to become advocates. As Rod put it “if they take the bait, don’t dangle more bait”.
Year II of the campaign moved from celebrating boringness to discussing specifics like their nationwide network of providers, discounted gym memberships, on-line health assessment tools and other wellness programs, Year III continues to focus on specifics with this latest TV spot:
The Lifewise campaign has enjoyed great success, with growth from very low single-digit awareness to its current level of 72%. They have also seen a 40% growth in members.
But it hasn’t all been sunshine and rainbows.
Last week, a 3-dimensional outdoor ad in downtown Seattle got unexpected coverage from KIRO-TV when the painter mannequin was mistakenly thought to be a real person and police and fire department rescue teams were called to the scene. See “Lifeless man dangling from Seattle building turns out to be dummy”. http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/lifeless-man-dangling-seattle-building-turns-out-b/nFSKh/
A quick-thinking response to the online post (less than 3 hours later) allowed Lifewise to salvage what could have been an embarrassment and turn it into an opportunity:
Posted by Lifewise at 2:51 p.m. November 1, 2011 Lifewise designed the ad to get attention, but it seems to have captured a bit more than we anticipated since the figure in the ad was supposed to be shown painting the lower corner of the billboard rather than slumped over. We’re working to have that corrected now. The purpose of the ad, which is part of Lifewise’s award-winning BoringlyGood ad campaign, is to let people know that no matter what risks people may take in life, they can have peace of mind knowing that they have a dependable health plan that’s there when they need it. -Amy Carter Lifewise Health Plan, BoringlyGood.com
In closing, Ron and Mike offered three challenges and opportunities they were working on:
- Social Media
- Bringing it to life in the real world
- Making it part of the company culture
Congratulations are in order for the entire marketing and advertising team for their ability to understand the “pulse” of their audience, and for taking a simple idea -LifeWise health plans work like they should, with dependable coverage and great service - and creating a company-wide mantra through clever casting, creative ingenuity and a “boringly good” campaign.
It’s a great example for other marketers to follow.
-- Don Morgan
Don Morgan is VP Communications for PSAMA and Head Rainmaker at Raindance Consulting, a business development and social media consultant in Seattle.
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