• by Sarah Mahoney , Staff Writer @mahoney_sarah, March 7, 2022

Zocdoc is rolling out a new campaign designed to let people know that finding the best healthcare doesn’t have to be difficult, tedious or even serious. Instead, “Get Your Docs in a Row” is a jazzy tribute to its easy-to-use tech solution.

With plenty of dancing sass, the spots take ordinary health struggles -- like “it hurts when you pee” or “you meant to book a therapist but whoops, you forgot” -- and shows how quickly and easily people can evaluate providers, making sure they accept the correct insurance, and then book an appointment.

Traditionally, healthcare ads skip lightheartedness and go for poignancy, like a tender moment with a newborn or a hand-holding “You’ve got cancer” scenario.

Not Zocdoc. “Negative, overly serious healthcare ads make healthcare feel intimidating and inaccessible and create higher emotional barriers to patients getting care,” says Heather Berko, director of brand marketing at Zocdoc.

This campaign, from 72andSunny, “aims to do the opposite, with a refreshed approach that empowers patients to enthusiastically engage in seeking care.”

The idea is to show that finding and booking an appointment with a new provider “doesn't have to be an onerous experience. With the right tools, it can feel joyful and victorious.”

Berko says the core audience for the New York-based company includes anyone “who's ever been overwhelmed by the process of finding the right doctor to meet their needs, who hasn’t had the right tools to find and book care with a quality provider.”

The first two spots are already running on national TV.

Two more are scheduled to break soon, including “Insurance,” which shows the exuberant dance of a guy who hasn’t had a checkup since he was young enough to get a T. Rex sticker.  

The brand awareness campaign aims to “communicate how Zocdoc creates a pain-free way for users to find, compare and book an appointment with the quality provider who best meets their healthcare needs,” Berko tells D2C:FYI in an email.

Launched back in 2007, Zocdoc is a pioneer in telehealth, backed by big-name investors like Amazon's Jeff Bezos.

And, propelled by the pandemic, consumer demand for tech-enabled healthcare solutions is shifting radically. That includes a much broader acceptance of mental health care.

Zocdoc recently released an analysis of its mental health booking trends, reporting substantial increases in pediatric, addiction, couples and first-time psychotherapy during the pandemic. “And while all other specialties have strongly returned to in-person care, telehealth remains patients’ primary choice when it comes to mental health,” the report says.

Between January 2021 and January 2022, virtual mental health specialty bookings jumped 74%, and that by January of this year, 88% of mental health specialty bookings are now virtual, the company says.

In contrast, virtual bookings account for just 10% of appointments in every other area.