Northwestern Medicine

How we made it personal

What makes Northwestern Medicine better makes patients better

How it connected

18:1 ROI on media investment

Creating better care with an even better ROI.

The healthcare industry is extremely competitive and for patients, it can seem like a sea of sameness. This makes it very hard for patients to determine where to go for the care they need.

When we began working with Northwestern Medicine (NM), we had to redefine what "care" means, and kept coming back to the word, "better." You see, Northwestern Memorial Hospital is consistently ranked top 10 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, but for NM, that's never good enough. They work tirelessly to find solutions and always stay curious. They take on the most complex cases and put specialized teams together in order to solve them. Every day, they strive for better - better care, better research, better treatments.

Our challenge was to showcase those cases in a way that's memorable, impactful, and easy for potential patients to understand.

Real stories. Real talent.Realistic collaboration.

Presenting Northwestern Medicine's relentless pursuit of better medicine.

We worked with our clients to select amazing, and at times unbelievable, multi-disciplinary stories to tell the NM story. In some instances, these were cases that other healthcare systems couldn't or wouldn't take on. But we didn't stop there. In TV, online video, radio, out of home, digital and social, we used the actual patients and doctors from each story as our on-screen talent, including our patients as our voice-over talent.

doctor
Team of NM doctors and nurses

Teaming up to tell extraordinary stories.

Better medicine is more than just one physician, it's an entire team. And by highlighting a range of specialties, service lines and multi-disciplinary teams, we’re giving those teams the heroic moment in the spotlight they deserve. We also use immersive, hyper-real surgical moments made using computer-generated footage to bring viewers right into the procedures.

Deciding where to receive treatment can be one of the biggest decisions in a person's life. And as important as high rankings, accolades and world-renowned doctors are, the unmeasurable factors - like trust and confidence - can matter even more. We developed an online experience to help deliver that trust and tell even more of each story beyond TV.

People are interacting with NM.org more than ever before.

Using the robust online experience we developed to add depth to each story, potential patients are able to learn more about the real doctors and team members they may have seen on TV or on billboards, further building confidence in choosing Northwestern Medicine for their care

In its first year, people who visited NM.org/better spent nearly 3 minutes interacting and exploring - 49% above site average.

multiple mobile screens

Proud to lead the way: Year-over-year performance

Now in its sixth year, the Better campaign has helped lead Northwestern Medicine to a ranking of #1 in Illinois, first choice for "Best Doctors," and first choice for "Best Image/Reputation."*

The campaign has also increased patient volume and patient preference, all while being outspent 3 to 1 by other top competitors. And, perhaps most impressively, it boasts a 18:1 ROI on media investment.

*Northwestern Medicine MMA, 2022; NRC Brand Tracking, 2020-2021; U.S. News & World Report, 2021-2022

NM bus ad