Banahan.Communications, Experts in Medical Marketing

Ethnic Marketing  |  Case Study

The following is an analysis of an ethnic marketing campaign conducted in 2007-2009 for Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center.

In a Nutshell: Banahan.Communications worked closely with Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center's executive leadership to increase awareness of obstetric and cardiovascular services amongst Armenian, Hispanic and Korean audiences. Through language-specific advertising and influential leadership efforts, Banahan.Communications helped Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center achieve a $12 million turnaround in less than 24 months.

Ethnic Marketing Strategy: Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center originally engaged Banahan.Communication to assist in the opening of a new cardiovascular center. After Jim Banahan spent a few months working with the team there, he immediately noticed the diversity of the community surrounding the medical center. He proposed a unique idea: reach the various ethnicities in their geographic areas and give them educational health materials in languages and layouts they can understand. At the time Hollywood Presbyterian recruited a forward-thinking leader, Jeff A. Nelson, to serve as chief executive officer and Jeff was thrilled at the idea. Jim Banahan's strategy was to understand the medical center's ethnic markets immediately surrounding the medical center. Then make inroads with those communities in ways that were meaningful to them.

Ethnic Marketing Research: To get a grasp on the Armenian, Caucasian, Hispanic and Korean communities near Hollywood Presbyterian, Banahan.Communications surveyed their target audiences via telephone. This gave the medical center an opportunity to understand the perception potential patients had of their service and the ways in which each ethnic community wanted to receive information. Banahan.Communications then analyzed the current patient patterns as well as potential patient patterns to determine areas of opportunity. This data was then used in conjunction with major transportation lines to determine the best marketing outlets. Finally, Banahan.Communications identified key leaders in each community and asked them to participate in advisory boards.

Ethnic Marketing Perception: Upon conclusion of the ethnic marketing research, Banahan.Communications showed that the surrounding community had little or no knowledge of the services offered at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. The goal was to change that perception in the Armenian, Korean, and Hispanic communities. These ethnic groups were selected because of their need for quality health care as well as their proximity to the medical center.

Ethnic Marketing Outreach: Banahan.Communications coordinated campaigns in Armenian, English, Korean and Spanish, each specifically targeted to its respective community. Spanish advertising was specifically used to increase awareness of obstetric services since that is the greatest health care need of the Hispanic community surrounding Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. Armenian and Korean campaigns focused on increasing awareness about the medical center's cardiovascular services. To achieve an higher level of awareness, Banahan.Communications used the following language-specific methods:

• Print Marketing
• Television Advertisements
• Focus Groups
• Leadership Support (within the communities)
• Joint Partnerships (with trusted businesses in the communities)
• Community Educators
• Outdoor Billboards and Bus Stop Panels
• Mass Transit Advertising on Rail Cars and in Subway Stations
• Web site

Ethnic Marketing Results: As a result of key leadership adjustments as well as Banahan.Communications marketing efforts, Hollywood Presbyterian achieved a $12 Million turnaround, increased patient volume, increased employee and physician engagement scores, and earned national recognition for high quality patient care in less than 24 months.