HealthPlus of Michigan is a health care insurance company with over 30 years experience in improving lives in mid-Michigan communities. They have over 200,000 members and offer a wide variety of plans including HMO, PPO, HSA’s, Medicare, Medicaid and individual plans. They have the leading market share in the Flint, Saginaw and Bay City service area. Recently, they expanded their coverage into the Detroit market area where they were not well known.
re:group was hired as AOR for HealthPlus in late 2009. We intuitively believed that they were not leveraging the strength of their iconic logo or defining all the “plus” attributes that could be associated with their brand. We knew that HealthPlus had a strong reputation for service, but there was very little research to tell us how the brand was currently perceived and their brand awareness in all their markets. re:group recommended a through research discovery process that included internal interviews, agent interviews, employer interviews and member/non-member phone surveys.
Our research revealed that most of their constituents felt positively about the brand and the service. Most felt that the “plus” meant they received more, but they were not easily able to recall specific benefits. We learned that there were a number of key drivers of satisfaction that were important to talk about and that HealthPlus could deliver upon very well- flexibility, wellness, listening to issues and customer service. As a result of this and other learning we identified that we did need to promote the specific “plus” advantages and that each audience had some different advantages that were important to them. As a result, we developed a variety of messages to appeal to their agents, employer groups, Medicare and individual insurance users.
The campaign creative focused on defining the “Plus” in HealthPlus. Using the voice of providers, agents, employers and members throughout Michigan, the new creative campaign put a face on the diversity of health coverage plans, wellness programs, the above and beyond service, outstanding program administration and personal member support.
Our media department created an integrated plan for the Detroit, Flint and Saginaw markets. Detroit was their newest market with minimal awareness, so additional dollars were spent in this market to create awareness. The effort included television, radio, print, interactive, digital, outdoor, social media and collateral. It was the first time that interactive and digital media were a part of their plans.
Key elements of the media plan included:
- Programming on popular TV shows like Dancing with the Stars and House
- Healthy living vignettes on WXYZ, brought to you by HealthPlus
- Radio sponsorships for Breast Cancer and Diabetes Awareness
- Outdoor
- Online banners and PPC ads
- Social media
A combination of Paid Search and online banners were used to increase visits to the HealthPlus website. In fact, the digital campaign helped to bring 14% new visitors to the website from the Detroit market where HealthPlus was relatively unknown.
Other performance indicators for the quarter were also very positive. ‘Contact us’ increased 5%, ‘Request a Quote’ rose 172% and online applications were up 41%.
HealthPlus received a 19% increase in traffic for brand keywords through paid search and received an additional 13% “lift” in traffic when broadcast was running.
The campaign far exceeded client expectations and helped to increase new member enrollments by 15,000 new members. The Detroit market contributed 20% of new member growth after the first year of aggressive marketing. Our ROI on the paid search campaign indicated that every dollar spent on paid search generated an additional $3.29 in revenue.
