Beginning in 2004 and running for 15 years, Kaiser Permanente’s Thrive campaign positioned the HMO as a leader in promoting health and wellness rather than healthcare. Introduced at the start of the still newish digital era, the campaign was one of the most successful since “medicine” was first marketed three centuries earlier. What elements of this campaign, which substantively grew people’s awareness of Kaiser as well as its membership, might you use to grow your brand?
It Tapped into Concerns and Trends Yet Offered Fresh Ideas
The Thrive campaign ran as people began to embrace integrative and preventive approaches to wellness and voice their dissatisfaction with the healthcare system—the congressional bills that eventually became The Affordable Care Act were introduced in 2009. Between 2000 and 2020, the supplement market grew from 50 billion to 140 billion dollars. Integrative medicine proponent, Dr. Andrew Weil, became a household name. Organic food sales took off and by 2020 were ten times what they had been in 2000. In the five years before COVID-19, the complementary healthcare market doubled, from about 40 billion to over 80 billion dollars.
The creatives behind the campaign also recognized technological shifts. Today’s creatives need to stay aware of the lightning-fast evolution of AI. Early on Kaiser ran ads primarily on television and radio and in print, but marketers directly responded to the exponential growth of the internet—which increased globally by 350% between 2005 and 2015. As more Americans came online so did more of Kaiser’s ads. The brand aligned itself with the public’s recognition of climate change, adapting Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and touting their environmental benefits in a famously futuristic ad in 2010 entitled “Emerald Cities.”
The Thrive campaign kept Kaiser competitive in markets nationwide because the branding agency constantly adapted the campaign’s core messaging and placement to stay in sync with the culture, technology, and media. In the first ten years of the campaign, Kaiser's Northern and Southern California markets saw double-digit increases in perception—which represents brand awareness and meant that non-members were considering joining Kaiser Permanente.
Elements of Success
Twenty years later, the qualities that made the Thrive campaign so successful are still relevant. Here’s what I see when I look at the campaign:
1. Positivity: The campaign focuses on health, longevity, and preventive care instead of healthcare, or what today is often labeled sick care. It offered a positive message that resonated with a growing number of consumers. “Stay Longer” with its iconic Doobie Brothers soundtrack is a good example of the campaign’s style.
2. Emotional Appeal: The campaign focused on everyday people in scenarios that reached people emotionally, and often brought a smile to their faces. Many Thrive ads such as “This is Kid Wisdom” were vignettes that told the wellness story of everyday people with genial humor.
3. Musicality: As with the “Stay Longer” ad, “Kid Wisdom” gains emotional traction with its soundtrack, a classic blues song.
4. Consistency: The basic Thrive message that stressed staying healthy endured for fifteen years, strongly linking its positive tone, hip style, and upbeat messaging with Kaiser’s brand.
5. Media Integration: The campaign played out across myriad media channels, including TV, radio, print, web, bus stop, and billboard advertising.
6. Differentiation: With its timely, positive, and consistent emphasis on health and wellness rather than sickness, the Thrive campaign set Kaiser Permanente apart from competitors.
7. Simplicity: By condensing the message into a memorable single-word tagline and staying true to it, the "Thrive" message was easy to understand and stuck in consumer’s minds.
8. Integrity: The campaign truly reflected Kaiser Permanente's progressive care model. Delivering on promises is essential for any wellness service or product.
9. Eye-catching Style: The ads often used vibrant colors and imaginative visuals to capture attention and further reinforce the positive health message.
10. Motivation: Through clear calls to action, Kaiser’s campaign encouraged people to take an active role in their health with an approach that aligned with a cultural trend of a more personally empowering approach to healthcare.
Kaiser’s Marketing Today
Kaiser’s recent ads are also tuned into the times and the nearly universal frustration with being on your own in navigating today’s healthcare system. For instance, “A Different Kind of Healthcare” shows how one’s health journey is so much easier when everybody works together “for all that is you.” The new marketing shares many elements with the Thrive campaign. Those elements offer anyone in the health and wellness space a checklist for creating an effective brand.
07.2024
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