Testimonial Ads. Risky? Yes. Memorable? Absolutely.
May 04, 2009 by Kim Fox
If I never see another "we'll be nice to you" or "we provide quality care" or "we have really cool equipment" ad campaign, it will be too soon. I realize I may have described the ad campaign you - gulp - just finished placing.
So, what's a different approach for the next round?
We know you have to be careful using humor because you don't want to make light of illness, but you don't want to frighten people either. Showing babies is good, but we're not all trying to sell OB services. Puppies are out, obviously. It's tough... which is why we often fall back on the "let's show doctors in a fancy OR" idea. It's safe. But what about testimonial campaigns?
Personally, I love them. When real people tell believable, passionate stories about how they had been helped by you hospital, it's like striking gold. Testimonial advertising works because the consumer just told you - in their own words - how they feel. It's like formalized word-of-mouth advertising. And it might just land you a New York Times story, too. Take the campaign for Akron Children's Hospital, for example. It fascinates me because it's testimonial advertising with a twist - the outcome is not known. And now we're all rooting for these kids who are fighting for life. I'll be talking about these for a while. Risky? Yes. Memorable? Absolutely.
