Making The Call
Award Category
BEST DEMONSTRATION OF RESULTS
Agency
cummins&partners
Client
National Home Doctor Service
Sponsor
Objectives
Australia’s healthcare system is overstretched, a fact not helped by the $1 billion in annual costs from low−acuity or 'GP−like' cases being admitted to emergency departments. The problem is most Australians are unaware the National Home Doctor Service provides a bulk−billed after hours home visit service. The service enlisted the help of Cummins&Partners to stabilise the number
of low−acuity cases clogging emergency departments. Other measures of success included generating a million visits for the year or the quivalent of a 25% increase in the number of patients year−on−year, increasing the number of new patients to 200,000 and increasing wareness by 15%.
Campaign
Cummins&Partners identified that mothers with children under 10 could be valuable consumers given they act as key decision−makers when it comes to health. Secondly, the agency noted consumers loyal to the brand saw it as an extension of a government service. As a result, the strategy was to boost credibility by framing the National Home Doctor Service as a government service. This was achieved by increasing media spend in medical centres, hospitals and doctors surgeries, opting out of premium environments and scaling down activations in order to deliver the facts in a logical way. To boost awareness, the campaign used a highly targeted approach in traditional channels such as TV, PR, OOH and radio, broadcasting ads on radio during the time of after−school pick−up. Fridge magnets with the National Home Doctor Service number were distributed using Roy Morgan Helix Ppersonas as part of the hyper−targeted approach. In addition, a customised search strategy was established, localised for each city, to leverage the behaviour of individuals who routinely search for an after−hours doctor service.
Results
Cummins&Partners estimate the campaign saved state governments in Australia around $53.9 million. By the end of 2015, the National Home Doctor Service achieved 1.22 million visitations, surpassing the initial objective by 22% and with 35% of all visits for children under the age of 10. The service also had 394,202 new patients, a boost of 97% on the initial goal of 200,000 new patients, while awareness of the service increased by 37% from a goal of 15%.
Judges Comments
“With a strong strategic direction and clear link to execution, this campaign delivered a fundamental change in consumer behaviour in a category renowned for deeply entrenched habits. Breakthrough with Boring did exactly that, accelerating patient take up and almost doubling benchmarked objectives.”
