Case Study: Keep Austin Healthy: Counter Cholesterol Campaign Pilot Program

SHIFT works hard to ensure the greatest possible results for all of our clients. This case study showcases an example of how we delivered for a client, in this case, the National Forum for Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention.

The National Forum for Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention is piloting a public awareness campaign that encourages a high impact target audience to manage their cholesterol risk. The National Forum’s primary audience for this campaign is mothers aged 35-55 years. The Austin-based pilot will develop messaging and communications tools organizations can use to embolden its target audience throughout the U.S. to manage their and their families’ cholesterol. If the pilot was successful the goal would be to replicate the program in cities throughout the United States.

The Mission:

National Forum was seeking a partner that could help with branding and messaging, media relations, social media support and event management. Enter: SHIFT Communications! Upon kick-off with National Forum, team SHIFT worked toward the following goals:

-Utilize research and data as media and consumer proof points on the need to ignite awareness around key issues and concerns associated with cholesterol;

-Create a compelling messaging framework that establishes the National Forum as a resource for moms and impacted consumers;

-Leverage both local and national subject matter experts as spokespeople to create relevance with high-risk patients; and,

-Create an ongoing media drumbeat throughout the campaign, including proactive storytelling and rapid response opportunities, tying into relevant seasonal and community news. Media relations outreach would primarily be focused on local Austin media, including print, broadcast (TV and radio) and the online community (blogs, online publications). The objective is to raise awareness about the Counter Cholesterol campaign, driving Austin residents to the website and increase thought leadership visibility through interviews with campaign champions.

Phase I: Content Creation & Audience Research

The SHIFT team jumped into action helping with branding and messaging with the development of logos, development of style guides, feedback on messaging which data was most impactful, and the creation of brand new Facebook and Twitter pages. In addition to this, SHIFT developed a robust media plan that would cover 20 English and Spanish speaking media outlets (broadcast, print, online) targeted to the 13 core zip codes falling under this Austin pilot.

Phase II: Launch Event

SHIFT worked with National Forum, the local YMCA of Austin, Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department, and campaign partners to hold a kick-off event in the city to mark the beginning of the campaign. The launch event, held at the North Austin YMCA, was a day full of free family-friendly activities that promoted cholesterol and heart health, including free cholesterol screenings, exercise and fitness routines and healthy cooking demos. In addition to sharing heavily on social media to drive general attendance, SHIFT posted details to local event boards in high traffic local media outlets and invited local broadcast media to attend and record the day’s activities.

Phase III: Maintaining Momentum

SHIFT did not take its foot off the gas pedal post launch. In addition to maintaining its heavy focus on broadcast media, SHIFT also upped its presence on social media. In addition to the daily thought leadership posts (sharing both National Forum and third party content), SHIFT began a targeted Facebook advertising program to increase likes on the Facebook page and drive traffic to the Counter Cholesterol website. The five key messaging statistics were tested weekly in both English and Spanish to see which resonated the most with the core audience to drive results.

Results:

Launch: The event was a full house of local families and through SHIFT efforts was promoted in advance by 8 top local outlets such as Austin Monthly, Austin360 and CultureMapAustin among others. SHIFT also secured a live interview on KTBC-TV (FOX) the morning of the event, hosted Time Warner Cable News live on site, and worked with KXAN-TV (NBC) for a follow-up web story.

Media Momentum: The SHIFT team continued to secure national opportunities for the program with Health Professional Radio, The American Legion, EverydayHealth and Univision. The endcap showcase piece of the post-launch momentum was a full segment on local CBS affiliate KEYE’s “We Are Austin” starring a local spokesperson discussing all of the campaign’s core messages surrounding women’s health.

Social media: SHIFT grew the social presence of the campaign securing 1K Austin residents across Facebook and Twitter. Due to the ad campaign that began in September, there was an explosion of performance on the Facebook page. When the National Forum presented the campaign results to its Steering Committee in early November, total page likes were at 613; page views were up 10%; reach was up 119%; and post engagements were up 23%. Reach saw the biggest increase, totaling 71,252 people.

Web traffic: When the Facebook ad campaign began in September, 87% of website social traffic was generated by Facebook, with a total of 2,972 clicks.

Campaign Sustainability: After nine months in Austin, National Forum has been thrilled with the Austin pilot results and are expecting to bring this campaign to future cities in 2017. Stay tuned, it could be a community near you!

In conclusion, it is evident that SHIFT does not take its foot off the gas in any phase of the campaign process. Here at SHIFT, we take pride in garnering top of the line results and the utmost satisfaction from our clients.

Matt Trocchio
Vice President

Looking to gain awareness or launch a campaign for yourself in 2017? Contact us today!

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