CASE STUDY
Mayo Clinic
A Storied Institution.
Mayo Clinic is ranked the #1 hospital nationwide by U.S. News & World Report. While honorable awards and international recognition establish Mayo Clinic as an industry leader, it’s the gold standard of individualized patient care that truly sets them apart.
After visiting Mayo Clinic for a yearly physical and gaining insight into their rich history and unwavering values, esteemed documentarian Ken Burns felt compelled to shed light on the model of care exhibited at Mayo Clinic, which he believed could set a strong precedent for all American health care. The Mayo Clinic: Faith – Hope – Science, executive produced by Ken Burns and Erik and Christopher Loren Ewers, aired on PBS in September 2018. The documentary offered an in-depth look at Mayo Clinic’s quintessentially American heritage and values, mixing modern-day patient vignettes with flashbacks of Mayo’s early years, in true Ken Burns fashion.
As this was a novel opportunity for Mayo Clinic, they partnered with Brand Knew to provide creative direction and lead strategy and promotion before and after the documentary release.
Mise en Scène.
Brand Knew collaborated with a multitude of teams at Mayo Clinic to drive all documentary marketing efforts. The Brand Knew team began with a deep dive into Mayo Clinic’s rich history, traveling to Mayo’s flagship campus in Rochester, Minnesota. After learning the pillars of Mayo Clinic’s mission that have remained the backbone of the organization for over a century, we crafted a strategy that both reflected these values and allowed space for digitally-focused, innovative concepts.
A fully-responsive, custom landing page was developed as a central hub for all documentary promotion. With a contemporary take on Mayo Clinic’s current branding, a clear hierarchy of information, and seamless web animations, the landing page presented insight into what differentiates Mayo Clinic from other institutions, as well as clear paths to stream the documentary online and ultimately drive interest in appointments.
Hitting the Mark.
In order to drive traffic to Explore.MayoClinic.org, as well as the PBS online streaming page, we strategized a multi-pronged paid media plan to cover the pre- and post-streaming promotional phases. The comprehensive plan included Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google ads to drive awareness, landing page visits, and documentary streaming. The ads garnered nearly 5 million impressions, with an average cost-per-click of $0.07. We wrapped up the campaign with an impressive 8.92% click-through rate, 100x higher than Facebook’s platform average in the healthcare category.
In addition to the remarkably successful paid media campaign, we chose to tap into Mayo’s loyal following by sharing custom, highly-shareable assets across Mayo’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Graphics included historical anecdotes, quotes from Ken Burns and other thought leaders from Mayo Clinic, and broader mission-centric graphics that aligned with the documentary’s message.
A number of digital initiatives were developed in tandem with the broader social strategy, including a multi-tier influencer strategy. Using Social Press Kit, one of Brand Knew’s proprietary tech platforms, we were able to share prepared, customized content with influencers for each promotional phase of the campaign. We also activated native assets within the Mayo Clinic Mobile App to tap into already engaged audiences.
The Intersection of Tradition and Innovation.
As Brand Knew has significant experience across both the entertainment industry and the nonprofit space, we effectively leveraged the exposure of Ken Burns’ Mayo Clinic: Faith – Hope – Science documentary to reach mass online audiences in a timely manner, driving appointment sign-ups, brand awareness and increased brand loyalty amongst Mayo Clinic patients, employees, and partners.
