Case Histories from FH Boom

Health Care

At the turn of the century, the average adult lived to be 44 years of age. The 78 million members of the baby boom generation can expect to live an additional thirty or more years on average. Today the boomers are spending $525 billion on healthcare for themselves and as a generation, boomers influence 78% of the purchasing decisions of their elderly parents. Suffice it to say, health and wellness play heavily on the minds and wallets of the segment we call “ boomers and beyond.” FH Boom and the professionals throughout the Fleishman-Hillard global network who comprise this practice group, has a history of successful communication and marketing to this generation of healthcare consumers. Following is a sampling of our past work targeted to this demographic.

Colossal Colon Tour – Colorectal cancer is the second leading cancer killer and is a notoriously uncomfortable topic of conversation for boomers and beyond. (Suggested screening begin at age 50.) The Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation (CRPF) and Fleishman-Hillard sought to make this disease a topic of conversation on a local and national level to encourage preventative care against the disease. To do that realized we needed to give the colon a sense of humor. We created the famed educational and highly interactive traveling Colossal Colon Tour exhibit featuring The Colossal Colon, a 40-foot long, 4-foot high crawl through replica of a human colon, and 10 interactive activity stations that traveled to 20 major cities across the nation from February – October 2003 to educate the public about colorectal cancer prevention, screening and treatment. To support the tour, we secured local partners, engaged and trained local speakers, and developed and executed a national long-lead and local short-lead media strategy. The tour touched thousands of lives, raised awareness and conversation about colorectal cancer and generated tremendous media coverage.

Walgreens and AARP’s Alliance – A topic of constant concern for boomers and beyond is the wise use of the multiple medications taken by themselves and those for whom they care. When Walgreen’s and AARP joined together for a multiyear campaign to bring educational resources about health, wellness and medicines to 50+ Americans, FH Boom was tapped to provide strategy and counsel as well as organization and implementation support while utilizing the vast network of AARP state offices and Walgreens 5,400 outlets nationwide. FH Boom helped Walgreens and AARP develop co-branded resource information, such as the informational packet, “Medicines Made Easy” which was distributed throughout Walgreens outlets across the country. FH also developed a toolkit that would allow AARP state offices and Walgreens to stage and promote community programs held across the country to provide personal medication reviews by Walgreens pharmacists to AARP members. Throughout this effort, FH Boom helped Walgreens and AARP deliver critical resource information and advice to countless boomers and beyond across America.

Pfizer Inc. and the Partnership for Clear Health Communication – Low health literacy – the inability to read, understand and act on health information – affects roughly 90 million Americans – one important segment of which is the elderly, and the adult children who care for them. Pfizer looked to FH to develop a public education program to combat the problem. We subsequently facilitated the creation of the Partnership for Clear Health Communications, a coalition of leading national healthcare and consumer organizations to drive the campaign. The Partnership and FH then created and promoted “Ask Me 3,” a program that among others, allows boomers to provide their parents with three simple questions to ask their providers at every health interaction. The results have been very impressive. More than a million “Ask Me 3” brochures have been distributed to key audiences. The Partnership now boasts over 400 active member organizations. “Ask Me 3” and the Partnership have together earned more than 117 million media impressions to date. And, after working with Partnership members, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona made health literacy a public health priority for the current administration.

Florida: A Healthy State – The state of Florida and Pfizer tasked FH with the assignment of raising awareness of and enrollment in the groundbreaking public-private partnership between the two on disease management for Medicaid recipients with chronic disease. We created and implemented a strategic media outreach plan, working with local hospitals on a rolling market-by-market basis to build and sustain momentum. FH also generated community support through a grassroots campaign. We developed a comprehensive press package in both English and Spanish and used statewide media coverage to generate national media interest – in part by utilizing real patient success stories as news story angles. We also staged six community events across the state which were attended by over 400 guests, local legislators, media, and community activists. The results of these combined efforts generated 37 million media impressions to date and in-depth coverage in outlets such as the New York Times, US News and World Report, Miami Herald and the Associated Press. The program touched the lives of 150,000 Floridians – many of them boomers and beyond.

Pfizer and Human’s Launch of Green Ribbon Health – Pfizer and Humana charged FH demographic experts with counsel and implementation of the launch of their Green Ribbon Health Medicare improvement program. The task included generating substantial local media coverage, and differentiating GRH from other Medicare improvement programs, such as Medicare Part D, that launched at the same time. We ensured community involvement and “buy-in” by staging a launch event with local stakeholders at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. FH trained spokespeople on key messages and communicated directly to providers about the launch through existing channels such as newsletters and Websites to ensure that they were prepared for any questions from patients and have the information to refer beneficiaries. We also identified local success stories to create post-launch news angles and maintain momentum. The event was attended by over 70 people from advocacy groups, the media, and legislators. The launch of GRH generated 4 million media impressions and gained placement in third party and physician newsletters. FH also placed bylined articles of patient testimonials in local community papers after the launch to keep GRH top-of-mind for boomers and beyond.

Revolution Health Group – Skyrocketing healthcare costs and the increasing availability of online health information have resulted in more consumer involvement healthcare decision-making. This trend is particularly true for the boomers who are not only making decisions for themselves and their immediate families, but also for their parents. AOL founder Steven Chase was therefore inspired to create a company that would provide people with the healthcare tools they needed – and Revolution Health Group (RHG) was born. As RHG faced the challenges of launching into a relatively new market, yet one that was already dominated by online companies like WebMD, FH was tapped to ensure that the media and other influencers and third parties understood RHG’s distinct value. Our counsel on establishing relationships with nonprofits and third parties prompted their executive team to add team members specifically for third party outreach. In addition, we led briefings and developed presentation slides for top executives so that they could engage top-tier broadcast, business and trade media which led to coverage on the Charlie Rose Show and CNBC as well as articles in the Associated Press, Bloomberg, Reuters, The New York Times, and other key outlets. Today nonprofit groups and third parties have significant ties to RHG and the media and general public are keenly aware of its value.

Pfizer Health Solutions’ Online Health Improvement Toolkit – An issue of considerable concern to boomers in the Hispanic community is that of preventative care among the elderly. As women boomers in the Hispanic community make health care decisions for their parents, it is vital that they have a resource to turn to for sound advice. Recognizing this need, Pfizer called upon FH to promote its new online health improvement toolkit – Amigos en Salud by generating substantial media coverage of the toolkit, building awareness among policy makers, advocacy groups, community health centers and other health-related organizations, and driving traffic to the website. We conducted aggressive media outreach, employed third party communication vehicles such as newsletters and websites, and enlisted third party spokespeople to lend credibility to the toolkit. The campaign received coverage in over 110 media outlets and has generated links to the website on numerous third party and community health websites to drive traffic to the site.

Book Promotions of “Nothing Left Unsaid” and other works by FH Boom Co-chair, Dr. Carol Orsborn – FH Boom’s Co-Chair, Dr. Carol Orsborn is an author of over 15 books that focus on the baby boom generation. For her 2001 book, Nothing Left Unsaid, Orsborn wore dual-hats as author and PR pro, engaged in a multilayered campaign to promote the book to caregivers and professionals who serve both the elderly and their boomer children. The book is an inspirational work that helps boomers and their loved ones through the most difficult times of their lives – such as the potential or recent loss of a family member or friend. The tour included training sessions for specific audiences including caregivers and residents at nursing homes, cancer support groups such as Gilda’s Clubs, and hospital staff. In addition the tour promoted the book to professional influences such as estate planning attorneys and social workers. Book promotions for this and other works also included aggressive media outreach and resulted in appearances for Dr. Orsborn on Oprah and the Today Show and coverage in magazines such as People and national news outlets include the NBC Nightly News. As a result of her visibility and credibility as a scholar/activist and marketer, Dr. Orsborn has served in the ceremonial capacity as spokesperson and ritual leader for the Avon Three-day Breast Cancer Walks, writing and orchestrating scripts and addressing crowds of as many as 7000 participants and observers a time in cities across the country.