Situation: In a weird brother-in-law media deal, Bay Area Medical Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, purchased a full-page, tabloid-sized ad in a local travel magazine six months before the hospital would open its doors. The problem then became, “Why would the reader even care?”
Action: Instead of talking illness and injury, I instead came up with a concept that talked amenities—making it fit in with the “competition.” I highlighted items such as “luxury accommodations for 150,” “extra firm mattresses” and “24-hour nursery.”
Result: Being advertised to an unusual audience 6 months before the hospital opened, it’s hard to say. But if success is to be judged by meeting a marketing challenge in a unique, humorous way, this one is a success by any standard.
