• by Les Luchter , May 13, 2024

Purpose-driven advertising can be a brand-builder, report New York’s Northwell Health and its agency Strawberry Frog in peer-reviewed research published in the Journal of Brand Strategy.

Case in point: Northwell’s campaign against gun violence, which, since launching in September 2022, has not only increased the number of people likely to ask about unlocked guns -- but has also resulted in higher brand consideration, higher ad recall rates and record levels of “likely to recommend” scores for the Northwell brand. The data comes via Northwell’s Quarterly Brand Health Tracker fielded by Whitman Insight Strategies (WINS) Research.

Brand consideration rose 25% among consumers exposed to the full campaign and 11% among those exposed to TV ads alone, the research found. The likelihood to recommend Northwell increased 26%.

On the gun violence issue, Northwell and Strawberry Frog reported that “Those exposed to the campaign are 2.5 times as likely to ask about an unlocked gun as those unexposed.”

In addition, the research showed a 25% increase in those seeing Northwell as a leader in reframing gun violence as a healthcare issue, a 23% increase in those seeing Northwell as a provider of tools and resources to improve gun safety in their communities, and a 24% increase in those saying that Northwell “motivates me to take action and reduce gun violence in my community.”

The gun violence campaign, perhaps best known for its TV ads with the tagline, “It doesn’t kill to ask about unlocked guns in the house. Guns are now the leading cause of death for kids,” has also included out-of-home, print and social messaging, plus a toolkit so the campaign could be used by 176 other healthcare systems in 48 states.

The Journal of Brand Strategy article, titled “Activating Northwell Health’s Brand Purpose through Movement Thinking,” also provides case histories of two other purpose-driven campaigns.

One, which ran from March to September in 2020, was designed to communicate with consumers during the pandemic. The campaign included ads declaring that “Information is healthy, fear is not,” PSAs narrated first by Ray Romano and then by Steve Buscemi, and multi-screen “Hope Tracker” digital boards outside Madison Square Garden that tracked the number of patients who got off ventilators at Northwell facilities.

By mid-October, Northwell reports, “in a region still operating under quarantine,” the healthcare system had rebuilt 90% of its pre-pandemic, non-COVID care volume by persuading “hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers to resume the care they had been putting off.”

By the fourth quarter, the article continues, Northwell had achieved a 12% lift in brand relevance and a 34% lift vs. the first quarter in those who would recommend Northwell to others. Those figures come via Northwell Brand Tracking with Engine Insights.

The third highlighted campaign, aimed at drawing attention to Russia’s “systemic attack” on Ukraine’s healthcare infrastructure, involved Northwell setting up a telemedicine support system to reach Ukraine’s besieged medical staff and to mobilize the direct delivery of supplies and personnel.

Northwell also created a 12-minute documentary, “Two Wars,” that told the story of a Ukrainian transfusion specialist and podiatrist coping with Russia’ “healthcare terrorism.”

Since the winter of 2022, Northwell says, it has provided over 400 remote consultations, raised over $600,000 in donations, treated 25 wounded Ukrainian soldiers who came to the U.S. for advanced medical care, and received a visit from Ukrainian President Zelensky, along with the presentation of Ukraine’s Order of Merit to Northwell CEO Michael Dowling.

Northwell’s CMO Ramon Soto explains to Marketing Daily how the system’s work across borders also helps the brand: “We believe it's our duty to help those in need, and by assisting the wounded warriors from Ukraine, we publicly affirm our commitment. This not only strengthens our bond with our direct communities but also resonates with individuals who have personal connections to Ukraine.

It demonstrates our genuine care and reinforces our pledge to make a positive impact wherever we can – which ultimately improves our consumer’s brand awareness and consideration for Northwell, when they too may need direct care.”