• by Larissa Faw , July 31, 2014

Healthcare has a new advocate. Blue Shield of California named marketing communications agency Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (BSSP) as its new agency of record, following a review. There was not one agency incumbent — Blue Shield had multiple agency partners and this move was made in part to consolidate all marketing activities with one agency.

“With BSSP as our agency-of-record, we’re better positioned to help our customers navigate a complex and ever-changing health insurance marketplace,” said Jessica McCarthy, vice president, integrated marketing and cient experience for Blue Shield of California.

BSSP will oversee brand awareness, product marketing analytics and media buying across all of Blue Shield’s consumer and employer group businesses. The agency's overall direction will focus on improving the quality and consistency of Blue Shield’s member experiences. The first work will debut in mid-October.

“Blue Shield is one of California’s most iconic and important organizations and having an opportunity to help them evolve their brand platform across channels is a great opportunity for our agency,” says Greg Stern, CEO of BSSP.

BSSP's experience with health and wellness helped the Sausalito-based agency land the account. Its clients have included AARP, Take Care Health, Destination Rx, Castlight Health and the Blue Shield of California Foundation.

Meanwhile, the Blue Shield win follows several other new business assignments BSSP has been awarded in 2014 including KitchenAid, Benefit Cosmetics, Redfin Real Estate and SunPower.

Blue Shield previously underwent an image change in 2006 under agency Taxi, New York. That campaign -- which presented comedic variations on familiar complaints about the complexity, cost and limitations of health insurance -- represented Blue Shield's first such effort in almost six years and included a new logo, as well as television, billboard and online advertising.

Blue Shield of California, an independent member of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, is a not-for-profit health plan with 3.4 million members, 5,000 employees and $10.8 billion in annual revenue.