GROUP HEALTH COOPERATIVE
Better Together
Educating the community without an agenda.
As a non-profit, member-owned cooperative GHC has ventured to support the community in any way possible. When the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, people did not understand how the changes would affect them as they looked for health care coverage. In fact, Wisconsin ranked dead last nationally in awareness spending. The people who stood to benefit the most from healthcare reform, like the 54% of Dane County residents who would be eligible for a subsidy, knew the least about it.
We launched the GHC Better Together Project, the largest campaign in the history of the organization, with a nearly seven-figure budget.
It was designed as a service of Group Health Cooperative, not to sell health plans, but to provide information to people who needed it most. The campaign employed a variety of strategies to engage consumers and give them a reliable source of information, both in English and Spanish.
Channels included:
- Traditional media platforms
- Influencer marketing to provide hundreds of organizations with educational collateral
- Cinema advertising, in-store radio ads at Walgreens, point of sale ads at grocery stores, bus placards, text messaging, etc.
- Online strategies including hyper-targeted online ads, a multi-platform social media presence, website and blogs
- Free seminars, “Health Care Reform Happy Hours,” online question and answer sessions as well as attending community events like the Dane County Farmers’ Market
After the Affordable Care Act was released, state spending on education and resources was $0.50 per capita. GHC was committed to serving members and spent $2.00 per capita on resources in English and Spanish.
Campaign results:
- Thousands of messages sent to Dane County residents, without politics and without spin, expressly designed for educational and information purposes
- GHC flooded the market with 100,000s of ads and printed pieces
- Brand awareness improved by 43%. Net promoter score increased 30%.
- Membership increase hit 55% in seven-year period.
- The Better Together Campaign swept 19 local and regional Addy Awards from American Advertising Federation Madison and the Midwest region.
43
INCREASE IN BRAND AWARENESS
The campaign led to a 43% improvement in GHC brand awareness.
Did you know…
Rippe Keane knew the importance of every staff member knowing the Affordable Care Act and being able to answer complex questions about the law. So to better serve GHC, all Rippe Keane staff received health care reform training.
