Bayshore Community Health Services launched a transit advertising campaign using posters and banners at local train stations to increase awareness of their services. Research found many local residents commuted to New York City via train. The campaign called "train station domination" saturated stations with Bayshore ads. Bayshore also held events at stations with staff interacting with commuters. The low-cost campaign was more effective than previous advertising, increasing the health service's website traffic by 68% and community awareness more than other ad methods.

1. For permission to reproduce part or all of this newsletter for external distribution or use in educational packets, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com or 978/750-8400.
8 Healthcare Advertising Review September/October 2008 © 2008 HCPro, Inc.
IN FOCUS
ADVERTISING
Embarking on a different strategy, Bayshore
chose transit advertising for its branding and
awareness initiative.
AllAboard!TransitAdvertising
by Kandace McLaughlin
With gas prices high and more
people using public transportation,
Bayshore Community Health Ser-
vices in Holmdel, NJ, decided to
launch a transit-based campaign
strategy that is increasing communi-
ty awareness.
Bayshore Community Health Services
had done some baseline research and
a tracking survey and knew there were
opportunities for growth in community
awareness, says Chris Domalewski, vice
president of marketing and community
relations at Bayshore.
“It was clear that the community
didn’t really know what services the
facility had to offer,” says Bob Gagauf,
president of R&J Group in Parsippany,
NJ. “We needed to build the brand.”
Laying down the rails
Bayshore launched initial research
to determine the best place in the
community to target consumers, and
it discovered that a lot of people
moved to the area from New York
City. “We’re in a booming real estate
market in an area that is attracting
more well-off, sophisticated, well-edu-
cated people,” Gagauf says. Being only
45–50 minutes from New York City,
a good segment of that target market
is going to be going through the train
station.” With a train station near
the hospital, Bayshore jumped at the
opportunity to target this audience.
Using one-, two-, and three-sheet
posters along with light pole banners,

2. ADVERTISING
For permission to reproduce part or all of this newsletter for external distribution or use in educational packets, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com or 978/750-8400.
© 2008 HCPro, Inc. September/October 2008 Healthcare Advertising Review 9
Bayshore launched a plan of action that
it dubbed “train station domination.”
“If you went to the station, all you saw
were ads for Bayshore,” Gagauf says of
the deployment, which included various
stations along the transit line.
The ads positioned Bayshore as a
community facility that could meet
many needs of those leading a fast-
paced lifestyle. The creative posed
important questions to consumers
about their adult lives and used simple
corresponding imagery.
One poster features an apple and
the words, “What’s Next?” It goes
on to explain that health is a priority
and that the professionals at Bayshore
know where the audience is coming
from. It finishes with, “Yes, welcome
to time-crunched, fast-paced, wonder-
ful adulthood—and care designed just
for you,” with a call to action to the
Web site neatly tying it all together.
Bayshore held events at various sta-
tion platforms to spark community
outreach and continue the push for
brand awareness. Staff members who
volunteered their efforts for the events
interacted with commuters, answering
questions and giving out pamphlets. “I
rode the train for 15 years and, with
that experience, I knew the only way
that you’ll get commuters to mill about
is in the morning,” Domalewski says.
Staff members were at the stations from
5 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.; doctors and nurses
in lab coats walked up and down the
platforms.
Although the timing for the sta-
tion events was early in the morning,
Domalewski says the nurses and doc-
tors appreciated the opportunity to
mingle with commuters and to meet
people in the community face to face.
“The professionals from Bayshore
were thrilled because they’re real peo-
ple people,” Domalewski says. “They
were happy to just shake hands and
they even saw some current patients. It
presented a great chance for them to
market themselves and the hospital.”
Each element of the transit campaign
featured thought-provoking questions
about an individual’s health concerns.
This ad asks, “What happens now?”
continued on p. 10

3. ADVERTISING
For permission to reproduce part or all of this newsletter for external distribution or use in educational packets, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com or 978/750-8400.
10 Healthcare Advertising Review September/October 2008 © 2008 HCPro, Inc.
An added bonus to the transit adver-
tising and events was the cost-effective-
ness of doing transit compared with
other advertising mediums. For the
amount of exposure the ads received,
the pricing was drastically lower than
doing a full-scale, multi-integrated
initiative. Gagauf learned that the aver-
age wait time for a train is about five
minutes. “That’s more time than they
would spend with a billboard,” says
Bob Szalva, media director at R&J
Group. “Most people are there every day,
seeing the messages at all the stations.”
Next stop, ROI
Research based on initial benchmark
figures showed that the outdoor adver-
tising had the largest increase in com-
munity awareness numbers for the facili-
ty when compared with the numbers
tracked from traditional advertising that
Bayshore had done in the past. The call
to action to the Web site proved to be
resourceful in tracking interest. Since the
All Aboard
continued from p. 9
launch of the campaign, the unique visi-
tors to the Web site increased by 68%.
“One thing that I’m quite proud of is
that our unique strategy created a buying
model [for other transit advertisers],”
Domalewski says. “They call it station
storming now.” H
Bayshore Community Health Services, Holmdel, NJ
Contact at facility: Chris Domalewski, Vice President of
Marketing and Community Relations
Web site: www.bchs.com
Agency: R&J Group
Agency location: Parsippany, NJ
Agency contact: Bob Gagauf, President
Agency Web site: www.randjgroup.com
Several creative elements were used at
the various train stations. Each focused
on a service area at Bayshore.

4. ADVERTISING
For permission to reproduce part or all of this newsletter for external distribution or use in educational packets, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com or 978/750-8400.
© 2008 HCPro, Inc. September/October 2008 Healthcare Advertising Review 11
One central theme of this campaign was
simplistic imagery. Solitary objects were
used as a way to express the copy concepts
and to get attention.
Although the campaign efforts featured mainly
train station advertisements, traditional elements
such as print ads were also used.

5. ADVERTISING
For permission to reproduce part or all of this newsletter for external distribution or use in educational packets, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com or 978/750-8400.
12 Healthcare Advertising Review September/October 2008 © 2008 HCPro, Inc.
A supporting and inventive angle to this campaign
was live events that were held at the train stations on
various mornings. Hospital staff members stood outside
answering questions and speaking with members of the
community face to face.