“I’m Living Proof,” a testimonial-based campaign to promote the cardiac services at MetroSouth Medical Center. See a glimpse of our work below:
Living Proof Logo
Jim Craig flier
(left to right) Lisa Stafford, Jim Craig, Ann Pitcher
Cook-Illinois Corporation
November 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Cook-Illinois, the largest private school bus company in the country, also became the first in Illinois to switch all buses to biodiesel fuel. P.S. Communications created an Earth Day announcement which generated coverage on all Chicago TV stations. The next Earth Day, P.S. created the Clean Air Club Bus, a mobile museum inside an old school bus — and it now visits schoolchildren all over Chicagoland, teaching the importance of keeping our air clean. This Earth Day program also generated coverage by all Chicago TV stations. The nature of the school bus business also requires crisis communications on occasion and P.S. consults with Cook-Illinois management on handling the media in sensitive situations.
PS Communications partners Lisa Stafford and Ann Pitcher with John Benish of Cook-Illinois Corporation after receiving a Gold Tower Award from the Business Marketing Association for the Clean Air Club marketing communications program.
Clean Air Bus
Regal Springs Tilapia
April 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
P.S. Communications announces our newest client: Regal Springs Tilapia. We have launched a campaign focusing on creative ways to get kids to eat tilapia. Watch our video about getting kids hooked on fish and the Channel 7 segment featuring Laura Valcour, a chef who believes in getting kids to eat more fish.
Regal Springs is the largest importer of tilapia into the United States. Its challenge was to distinguish themselves among their competitors and build brand awareness. Our recommendation was to promote family-friendly and “kid friendly’ fish meals (we introduced program the first week of Lent) and to clearly communicate their sustainability story which allows them to stand out amongst their competitors. We created a consumer-friendly website, Fish Blog and national pr program to encourage consumers to cook with tilapia. This included “Getting Kids Hooked on Fish for Lent,” “Frugal Family Recipe Contest” and the distribution of press materials highlighting Regal Springs “Fish For Trees” program which plants trees to restore balance in their damaged ecosystems in the countries where their fish farms are located: Indonesia, Honduras and Mexico. The program resulted in ___________ media impressions and more than __________hits to the website. Sales of tilapia spiked and remain strong.
MetroSouth Medical Center takes heart health seriously
February 15, 2009 By
NBC5 host Andy Avalos getting heart screening at MetroSouth Medical Center.
Once recognized as one of the top 100 heart hospitals in the nation, MetroSouth Medical Center (formerly St. Francis Hospital) had seen a major drop in heart patients and a significant dip in cardiac service revenue over the past ten years. When the hospital, which was run by the Sisters of St. Francis, was sold to a private enterprise, the transition team realized that the cardiac program had slipped drastically. Also, the hospital’s reputation in the community had weathered over time.. The morale at the hospital was at an all-time low.
Enter P.S. Medical Group. In January and February, 2010, the agency rolled out, “Know Your Numbers by Heart,”, a campaign focused on delivering the message and increasing awareness in the community about the importance of knowing your vital health screening values that can lead to heart disease (blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), glucose and cholesterol). The campaign promoted overall heart-health awareness, strategies to improve abnormal numbers, and repositioned MSMC as heart care experts in the Southland.
Implementation
The strategic implementation of the Know Your Numbers by Heart campaign was driven by grass roots, traditional marketing and social media efforts. The plan for the campaign was to utilize our website and public relations and print advertising efforts to engage the media and community by offering heart screening services free of charge and the comprehensive healthy heart exam at reduced costs in hopes of reaching greater numbers in a shorter amount of time.
Sequence of Events:
- New Year’s Day Comprehensive Healthy Heart Exam – FREE (Valued at $200) 1000 calls came in and the first 100 attendees at the New Year’s Day event (on 1/1/2010) were awarded a received free comprehensive healthy heart exam. Media coverage: CBS2, ABC7, WGN-TV, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, SouthTown Star, and Associated Press
- Red Heart Dance Music Video “Achy Breaky Heart” Employees, physicians, volunteers and the executive team participated in a music video around the hospital to a karaoke version of “Achy Breaky Heart,” a song made famous by country western singer Billy Cyrus.
- Video was featured on NBC5 (multiple times), CBS2, WGN, Chicago Tribune, Orland/ Palos zoned Tribune (Trib local), Beverly Review, Southtown Star and blogs throughout the country.
- TV Segments
- Dr. Robert Iaffaldano, Interventional Cardiologist, was interviewed about the importance of getting your numbers check by Jeanne Sparrow, popular morning show host on WCIU-TV
- Morning Show Anchor Andy Avalos of NBC5 aired several announcements about an upcoming heart screening event
- NBC5 aired a PSA about the importance of getting heart check ups
- “Know Your Numbers by Heart” Kick-Off Bash!
- This colorful, fun event was hosted in the MetroSouth Medical Center lobby and joined by celebrities Andy Avalos and Jeanne Sparrow on Feb. 6, 2010.
- Local luminaries were invited and participated in the healthy heart screening (blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, body mass index). They included: mayors, aldermen, state representatives, Miss Black Illinois, local business and community leaders.
- Local Restaurants
- The hospital invited five local restaurants to create heart-healthy recipes and participate in the Kick-Off Bash, providing free heart-healthy food samples to event participants.
Results/Evaluation
Comprehensive Healthy Heart Exam Through the Comprehensive Healthy Heart Exam (a $200 value marked down to $30),
we received over 1,300 calls and have completed 970 Healthy Heart Exams over the last six months. Last year there were only 330 exams scheduled. We had close to three times the number of $30 heart exams over last year! That generated over $29,000 in revenue as compared to only $9,900 in 2009. Additionally, at least one open-heart surgery resulted from the Healthy Heart Exams, along with 16 others referred to cardiologists for EKG changes. The campaign was success in repositioning the hospital as one of the top heart hospitals in the southland, but also, to date, the campaign has resulted in $132,971.00 in additional revenue for the hospital.
