It’s nice when you’re not sure exactly what kind of an ad agency you are. Maybe it means you’re evolving. Or maybe it means you’re taking on challenges you haven’t before. Who knows. But for not being a healthcare ad agency, we sure have done a lot of healthcare advertising lately. 

After projects for UCSF, Lively and Michigan Health Professionals, we got a call to pitch El Camino Health, one of the premier healthcare brands in the South Bay. And what do you know, we won the dang thing.

We had a simple idea that led to a strong collaboration with our clients and ultimately the launch of the biggest brand campaign El Camino Health has ever done. Not that “biggest” really means anything, but it does show the company is behind the work, internally and externally. So, yes, that feels good. 

Of course, Division of Labor never intended to become a healthcare ad agency. And, in fact, we work hard to maintain a diverse roster of clients in order to avoid being pigeonholed into any one category of advertising. But the reality is that healthcare is probably the most emotional category there is. And it deserves more than changing the words to old pop songs and jumping into swimming pools. “Oh, oh, oh, Ozempic!” (Look it up if you don’t know it. I can’t bear to put a link to it.)

The El Camino Health campaign took a while to get out the door because we went through extensive brand strategy work with our partners at Paragraph Project to help everyone understand the key communication points to focus on and ensure any future messaging would be consistent. After developing multiple campaign ideas to bring the brand position to life, we did some consumer testing to get validation.

TESTING PROVES TESTING WORKS

Of course, I’ve never met a creative person who liked concept research. In the wrong hands, it dumbs down ideas and kills creativity. But, in the right hands, with good clients, it helps you make a decision. It doesn’t make the decision; it helps. And when you work with scientists, engineers, tech founders, consumer packaged goods, B2B companies, hell, anyone these days, you’re going to need data. So don’t fight it, go get it.

In the end, the idea that won out was the original ad campaign idea we presented in the pitch. We brought in director/editor Doug Walker to help us bring it to life. And Vince Genovese to help navigate the complexities of filming in a hospital. 

Through it all, our clients navigated us into and around the various complexities and red tape of the medical system to the point where our line producer, Brian Benson offered our client, Holly Trollman a job in production. (She declined, by the way.) 

The body of work was difficult to produce, frustrating at times, and one of the most satisfying and rewarding projects we’ve taken on.  Vineeta Hiranandani is our amazing client who led us through strategy sessions, board meetings, medical reviews, design reviews and final production. While Lydia Antippas ran our entire primary care campaign and the entire digital media campaign. Thank you both. 

Over a year after someone in our office, and I think it was account director Rebecca Reid, said “Accept Nothing Less than El Camino Health”, we are thrilled to see it come to life on TV, streaming, social and digital video, outdoor, radio, and it’s everywhere in the South Bay thanks to our media planner and buyer, Brenda Goodman.

So are we a healthcare agency? No. But we’re really proud of this one.

Credits:

ECH - Vineeta Hiranandani, Lydia Antippas, Holly Trollman, Dan Woods, all the El Camino Health physicians, nurses and staff.

Production - Doug Walker, John Ettinger, Brian Benson, Molly Condit, Norman Bondy, Paul Chaput, Ryan Kavanaugh, 1606 Productions, Caruso Films,

DoL - Rebecca Reid, Faruk Sagcan, Ruby Noto, Lauren Chandler, Brenda Goodman, Dawn Margolis, Vince Genovese, Scott Aal, Dustin Smith, John Reid, Lynda Greenberg, Dan Carlton, Jess Sebbo, Chelsey Robertson.