The Side Note

Breaking through the clutter. This is exactly what the Baptist Health System did in San Antonio recently in a promotional campaign to raise awareness of expanded services. More specifically, the hospital system recently introduced the Brain & Stroke Network, which according to their website, “brings together all the necessary components to treat patients presenting with stroke.” The network provides services at each of the system’s five hospitals.

Baptist Health System’s marketing team set out to raise both awareness about their expanded services and educate the population about strokes in general. They did this by hiring actors to visit locations around the city and stage fake strokes.  Afterward, the actors handed out “Stroke Happens” cards. These cards had educational information about strokes and their symptoms. Baptist Health Systems also used 80 mannequins, all dressed in “Stroke Happens” t-shirts to represent the number of San Antonian’s that die from stroke each year.

I think Baptist Health System did a good job creating a memorable event and informing San Antonian’s that they do not need to go outside of San Antonio to receive treatment for a stroke.

It seems the hospital system’s marketing team was influenced by the “Truth” advertisements about smoking and tobacco companies from a couple of years ago.

Do you think this takes anything away from the campaign or do you like the attention grabbing nature?