This document outlines strategies for reducing risk when starting over with healthcare marketing. It discusses evaluating past performance, setting clear metrics, building on past successes, understanding the audience, and casting a wide net. The case study describes how Highmark and Hacker Group implemented these strategies through testing mail, TV, and online formats. Their approach significantly increased engagement and sales leads while lowering acquisition costs over multiple years.

1. 9/30/2011
Take the Risk Out of
Starting Over
in Healthcare Marketing
DMA:2011
Michael Meadows, Highmark Inc.
Tom Reid, Hacker Group | HealthHG
Background
&
Situation
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2. 9/30/2011
Background
• Highmark
– Serves 4.8 million members in Pennsylvania and
West Virginia
– One of the largest Blue plans in the nation
– 19,500 employees across the country
– Mission:
• To be the leading health and wellness company in the
communities we serve
• Michael Meadows, Highmark
– Director - Senior Markets Marketing
– 7 years of health care marketing experience
Background
• Hacker Group | HealthHG
– Full service direct / digital agency
– HealthHG dedicated insurance practice
• Tom Reid, Hacker Group
– Executive Director and Chief Strategist
– 24 years of agency and client-side experience
Medicare Advantage Market
• Medicare Advantage market is highly regulated
– Marketing materials filed with CMS
– Enrollment limited to 8 weeks per year
• Mature & change resistant – most seniors have
some type of additional coverage now
• Many stakeholders
– Sales, Product, Brand, BCBS Association, Compliance
• Mistakes are costly – no time to recover
• Intense pressure on marketing efforts
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3. 9/30/2011
• Operational complexity: multiple brands, products,
regional competition
• Product-centric marketing
• Launched market segmentation approach to
messaging a year prior
• Limited marketing performance metrics
• Not satisfied with lead volume or cost-per-lead
results
• Needed a more scalable and predictable
approach to improving results
Strategies
for
Reducing Risk
When Starting Over
Strategies for Reducing Risk
• Level set on performance and metrics
– Agree on available market
– Use historical results and industry
benchmarks to set realistic objectives
– Establish metrics that will be used to judge
success
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4. 9/30/2011
Strategies for Reducing Risk
• Combine new creative / messaging with
known winning formats and offers
– Draw upon winning formats for same
audience
– Focus on the immediate objective:
engagement vs. selling a specific product
Strategies for Reducing Risk
• Understand the Audience – What problem
are we trying to solve?
– Bombarded with information in a short period
of time
– Searching for help with a complicated
decision
– Different views on health care
Strategies for Reducing Risk
• Maximize audience reach
– Integrated media strategy
– Develop offers that appeal to the shopper
– Solution messaging versus product specific
messaging where possible
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5. 9/30/2011
Starting Over!
Starting Over: Evaluation
• Begin with an analysis of media budget
allocation and performance
– Benchmark prior year media mix
• Establish next year objectives
– Brand awareness vs. immediate results?
– Available market, available budget
– Leads, Members, Cost-per-Member
Starting Over: Implementation
• Mitigate marketing risk with multiple
touches, formats and executions
– More shots on goal with many touches
– Variety works with rotation strategy
– Enables lots of testing in the season
• Make it easy to respond
– Maximize response by using multiple
response channels
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6. 9/30/2011
Starting Over: Implementation
• Media mix –
– DRTV
• Align production and media budget
• 60s vs 90s vs 120s?
• Tune media spend weekly
– Mail
• Many packages and components
• Harvest credibility from DRTV
– FSI (Free Standing Insert)
• Format testing makes a difference
– Test and Measure EVERYTHING!
Starting Over: Implementation
• Fulfillment
– Speed and accuracy count
– Opportunity for more than just fulfillment data
processing
• Marketing Database
– Response management and lead qualification
– Fulfillment management
– Daily and weekly metrics on each vehicle
• Weekly Metrics Review
– No surprises
Results
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7. 9/30/2011
Starting Over: Accomplishments
• Significant increase in market engagement
– Reallocated budget to more efficient vehicles
• Increased mail by 190%, from 1.1mm to 3.2mm
– Shifted DRTV budget to media vs. production
• Reduced overall DRTV budget by 21%
• Increased number of spots run by 31%
• Ran 11,100 spots vs. 9,100 spots prior year
– Delivered 54% more response
• 51,400 vs. 33,300 in prior year
Starting Over: Accomplishments
• Identified controls
– 3 winning mail packages above 1.4%
– Winning lists / newspapers / stations
• Improved results tracking and attribution
– Direct marketing credited with over 2x the
sales of prior year
• Reduced marketing acquisition costs
– Lowered marketing cost-per-member by 63%
Starting Over: Accomplishments
• Reduced data processing costs by 30%
and produced a robust marketing
database
• Clear view into campaign performance on
weekly basis — all key metrics:
– Summarized pipeline view of each vehicle
and execution
• Solicits / Response / Leads / Cost-per’s
– Regional performance
– Segmentation summaries
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8. 9/30/2011
Creative
Starting Over: Mail Examples
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Starting Over: FSI
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9. 9/30/2011
Starting Over: DRTV
Conclusions
Starting Over: Key Learnings
• More online
– Over 5% of response via online
• DRTV
– Motion graphics & 60s spots paid off
• Mail
– Testing paid off: 3 winners identified, enabling
more efficiency gains in subsequent year
• FSI
– Focused distribution yielded higher response,
lower cost-per-member results
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10. 9/30/2011
Taking the Risk out of Starting Over
• Take time to do the evaluation
• Set clear, measurable performance metrics
• Build on what works
• Provide solutions for audience problems
• Cast a wide net
• Identify operational gaps
• Review and optimize often
Postscript: 2010 – 2011
Does the approach scale over time?
Response Volume Cost per Response Cost per Member
Year Gain over Prior Year Gain over Prior Year Gain over Prior Year
2011 32% -3% -14%
2010 9% -4% 20%
2009 54% -36% -63%
• Consistency: delivers year after year
• Improvement: testing and refinement drives cost
per response down year over year
• Results: continued growth in the face changing
regulations and fierce competition
Starting Over: Questions?
Thank You!
Michael Meadows, Highmark Inc.
Tom Reid, Hacker Group | HealthHG
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