Case Studies

Capital District Physicians' Health Plan (CDPHP)

A HEALTHY ADDITION

In the summer of 1999, after a rigorous selection process, we learned that we had been chosen by Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan (CDPHP) to provide ongoing marketing communications services. In November 1999, CDPHP was ranked the fifth best HMO in the nation by Newsweek. CDPHP was one of only 13 plans across the country to receive a five-star rating in the survey. They also posted the highest member satisfaction score of all the plans receiving five stars, as well as the highest score for access and services. CDPHP has also undergone phenomenal growth recently, expanding its coverage area to 25 New York State counties and its membership to more than 400,000 after the acquisition of Kaiser Permanente’s New York business.

SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN

Part of the reason for CDPHP’s success is their unique philosophy of wellness and preventive care, a theme that is the cornerstone of our advertising and marketing campaign which included television, radio, outdoor, and consumer and print advertising. As part of our marketing campaign, we came up with a new tagline, "It's all part of our plan," which memorably and succinctly provided a thematic umbrella for CDPHP's wide range of wellness programs.

KID STUFF

We took a fresh approach to television, creating and producing three 30-second commercials that rely on the charm and exuberance of children to convey CDPHP's unique approach to healthcare. Rueckert Advertising also produced four 60-second radio commercials that reinforced our print campaign by using a mixture of sound effects and announcer voiceovers.

PRINT ADVERTISING

Consumer ads were created dealing with the following CDPHP wellness programs: fitness, nutrition, smoking cessation, stress, hypertension and asthma. Rueckert Advertising also created two print ads directed toward businesses.

OUTDOOR

Rounding out our campaign was a series of four billboards dealing with topics including CDPHP's asthma, hypertension, stress and fitness programs.

EXTRAORDINARY SERVICE
IT'S ALL PART OF OUR PLAN.

After a series of meetings with CDPHP marketing executives during the early summer of 2002, we decided to shift the focus of our advertising from wellness and preventive medicine to exemplary customer service. And with good reason. CDPHP has emerged as one of the nation's top-rated health plans for member satisfaction. Next, we sat down with a dozen of CDPHP's member service representatives, social workers and case managers, listened to their moving stories and philosophy of service, and came away with the seeds of a new marketing campaign.

LET'S CUT TO THE CHASE

We produced three 30-second television commercials featuring closeups of actual staff people, satisfied members and participating physicians speaking very directly and honestly about CDPHP's dedication to extraordinary service. We also created a series of 60-second radio spots illustrating specific cases in which CDPHP staff went out of their way to make life-threatening medical situations easier to handle and less complex for members. Rounding out our campaign, we produced print ads and billboards with a new graphic look, and a radio commercial whose spokesperson was CDPHP's president and CEO, Dr. Bill Cromie.

AWARD-WINNING SERVICE

In the fall of 2002, CDPHP unveiled the new campaign for hundreds of their employees - who were among the stars of the new campaign - and for the media, at an exciting Academy Award-themed event, complete with festive balloons, movie popcorn, Oscar statuettes, and a replica of the sidewalk with famous stars' handprints and footprints from Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.