Condensed IMC plan

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Receive up to $600 Toward a Healthier You

Strategic Plan for the BENEFIT Campaign

By Susan L. Blanchard, MBA, ABC, CAAP

For the Alberta Cancer Board (AHS) and IABC

This case study outlines strategic communications to launch a multimedia

marketing communications campaign. My goal was to enroll thousands of

Albertans in a major cancer study. Thanks to the strength of the plan and

campaign in this case study, I reached my objectives for the campaign. Even

more, I presented the campaign to IABC to pass IABC’s rigorous examination and

accreditation process.

This plan has been edited to remove the confidential names of persons responsible for various tactics.

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The communication objectives of Alberta Cancer Board campaign are to:

1. Stimulate awareness of the Benefit Research Study among 250,000 target-audience

members (Albertans), thereby enticing them to become study participants.

2. Enroll at least 6,500 members of the target audience in the Research Study (knowing

that not everyone who enrolls in the study will remain in it).

3. Educate and remind them about the $600 incentive to entice 2,500 participants to

stay in the study.

My Role I was recruited as a strategic planning manager. My job was to:

• Create province-wide public awareness of a major cancer study.

• Enroll a total of 6,500 males and females in the study with the expectation that

some will drop out.

• Write a comprehensive strategic plan for an integrated campaign to enroll Albertans

living in three health regions.

• Use project management to manage timelines.

• Coach a team of co-workers to launch the campaign.

• Hire a market research firm and oversee qualitative market research to test

advertising messages and determine the likelihood of enrollment.

• Manage an advertising agency’s work to create campaign messages and

advertisements.

• Write a social-media strategy (see page 6).

• Plan and launch a website and online content (Website plan is excluded).

• Plan, write and organize paid media advertising (traditional channels), earned

media, a podcast and a direct-email campaign.

• Write radio, internet, print and other communication collateral to create awareness

of the research study across Alberta.

• Develop a media-relations plan.

• Encourage pharmaceutical personnel to deliver interactive posters to physicians.

• Create an information hot-line and call center.

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• Entice up to 6,500 Albertans from three health regions to enroll in the study.

• Deploy a welcome-to-the-study kit, a type of onboarding kit, to inform Albertans

who enrolled in the study how to start reducing their risk of cancer by 50 percent.

At the time, doctors had learned that 50 percent of cancers are preventable, including

some lung, skin and obesity-related cancers.

Cancer Board’s Business Goals When the campaign was launched, the Alberta Cancer Board published two startling

findings: One in two Albertans will develop cancer and three in four Albertans will survive

cancer. To reduce cancer in the province, Alberta Cancer Board executives unveiled a

vision focusing on three goals for the year to:

1. Reduce the incidence of cancers by 4,880.

2. Reduce the mortality from cancer by 3,800.

3. Eliminate suffering in every way possible for Albertans living with cancer.

The Board set the same goals for three more years to generate even better odds of saving

Albertans with cancer. The knowledge that 50 percent of cancers can be prevented

prompted the Cancer Board to launch the research study. The study goal was to prevent

avoidable cancers, such as lung cancer and sun exposure cancer. Obesity-related cancer

accounts for 20 percent of all cancers and other disease. It also costs the health-care

system billions of dollars a year.

Target Audiences

The primary audience consisted of adults (males and females), who live in three health

regions of the province: Calgary, Chinook, and Peace Country.

Physicians, hospital staff, weight-management, and fitness counselors (called

“influencers”) were the secondary audience to ultimately encourage Albertans to enroll

in the study.

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The tertiary audience were study participants to whom I sent instructions for joining the

weight-management center and losing weight.

Internal employees were another audience, and I advised the Board to test the campaign

internally (across the Alberta Cancer Board and AHS) before launching it externally.

I developed an internal communications plan, but the full launch was outside my scope of

work.

Primary Audience

Awareness of the study would reach 1,480,000 Albertans living in the Calgary, Chinook,

and Peace Country health regions. Of those, 2,600 could enroll if they met eligibility

criteria:

• An age range of 20 to 65 years and fluent in English to read study questionnaires.

• A body-mass index of 30 to 59 percent. BMI is a specific range of weight in

proportion to height.

• Agree to give informed consent, complete surveys, and share body weight and

measurements.

Demographics and Psychographics

• Income levels of Albertans living in the health regions averaged $79,000 per year

• Ninety percent were employed

• Eighty-one percent of the target population lived in urban areas, and 19 percent

lived in rural

• Populations: Calgary had 1.2 million Albertans, Chinook,150,000, and Peace

Country, 130,000

In Alberta obesity accounts for 20 percent of all cancer deaths. Some 50.5 percent of

Albertans had high weight-control issues at the time of the study. This amount exceeded

the Canadian national average by 1.6 percent. In Peace Country, most of the population

surpasses the BMI indicated above, whereas Albertans in the Chinook and Calgary Health

Regions are managing their weight.

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According to one of the surveys conducted by the market-research firm ResearchWorks,

people decide to manage their weight (avoid gaining or losing weight) for various reasons.

To answer the question, “Which statement most reflects your approach to weight control,”

survey respondents said:

• Some think about managing their weight but feel the time and circumstances in

their life must be right to do so.

• Some are inclined to do so after they’ve gained a few pounds.

• Some don’t believe they need to manage their weight.

• Some avoid losing weight. Of this amount, 50 percent stated that they would not

enter the study.

• Some do not believe these indicators reflect their behavior.

Respondents answered questions listed in a brief confidential questionnaire

Secondary Audience

Influencers: people who could influence Albertans to participate in the study. These

included: (1) 539 physicians, (2) 28 weight-management counselors, (3) 25 health and

fitness club employees located in the three health regions, (4) 500 employees at Alberta

Cancer-Care Centers, and (5) eight hospital employees or volunteers located across the

targeted health regions.

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The targets agreed to mention the study to their clients or disseminate collateral to create

awareness of the study.

Typically, members of the primary target audience learned about the campaign through

social media, publicity, advertising, the Internet, their physician, e-mail, publications and

so forth. Then they called the Alberta Cancer Board’s BENEFIT hotline or website to

enroll. If they were eligible to participate in the study, the Board sent them a kit or

webinar that welcomed them to participate in the study. The kit explained the steps to

getting healthy and reducing their cancer rate by as much as 50 percent by giving up

smoking, etc.

Strategic Objectives

After Albertans saw or heard about the research study, if motivated to act, they called the

call-center hotline, visited the website to enroll or sent messages by means of email and

social media. Every communications medium delivered the key messages. If an Albertan

met the criteria to participate in the cancer research study, a team disseminated the

welcome-to-the-study kit. To ensure the kit would enroll potential participants effectively,

a market research firm tested it in focus groups.

Communication objectives for the campaign:

1. Stimulate awareness and word-of-mouth news of the Alberta Cancer Board’s

Benefit Research Study among 250,000 Albertans in three health regions to entice

them to participate in the study.

2. Enroll at least 6,500 members of the target audience in the Research Study

(knowing that not everyone who enrolls will participate).

3. Educate and remind participants about the $600 incentive to entice 2,500 of them

to stay in the study.

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The Objectives I set for the project are to:

1. Determine within a year if the cancer prevention campaign and $600 cash would

be effective in enticing 6,500 Albertans in the Calgary, Chinook and Peace River

health regions to enroll in the cancer study.

2. Learn before the campaign, through up-front research, if the communication

collateral would provide all the information Albertans need to join the cancer study.

(Collateral and channels included: a welcome-to-the-study kit, social media

podcast, webinar, call-center hotline, website, email campaign, radio and print

advertising, along with referrals from physicians, dieticians and other clinicians.

Media relations would ensue before the collateral was deployed, and fulltime

communicators were trained to tackle media relations and other communications.

3. Within a year, prompt 100 physicians, dieticians and other clinicians to refer

patients or clients to enroll in the Board’s maintain-a-healthy-weight study

(BENEFIT).

Social media Objectives

Reach internal audiences first. After audiences from AHS enrolled, reach external

audiences. Tactics are not listed. The SM campaign was outsourced.

Objectives for the province-wide campaign within a year:

1. Communicate the benefits of entering the BENEFIT campaign, highlighting the

$600 fee paid to Albertans who completed the study.

2. Maintain the number 1 position in terms of share of voice against competitors in

the health and fitness market.

3. Maintain at least 85 percent sentiment about the cancer research study

throughout the campaign.

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4. Grow the Alberta Cancer Board’s owned social channels by 1% for Facebook and

10% for Twitter, and increase YouTube video views by 5,000 and subscribers by

25.

5. Generate 10,000 social-media impressions (earned, owned and paid),

demonstrating engagements from target audiences.

6. Convert Albertans in the three health regions to 25% of the BENEFIT program

participants.

Strategy: To create brand affinity and an emotional connection to the cancer study,

communicate the benefits of preventing cancer and “earning $600 toward a healthier

you”—the value proposition. By reaching Albertans in three health regions across a

multitude of channels, both online and offline, the BENEFIT research study and the

Alberta Cancer Board must stand as the voice of reason. During the research, we're going

to give “you” all the information available to help you fight cancer, and we'll guide you,

but you ultimately make the choice.

Tactics

Develop a content marketing schedule and stay proactive in presenting our message

rather than reactive to comments, criticisms or questions. Create a story around how

Albertans benefit. Pitch the lengthier story to publications and then bring the story to the

size of a sentence or two, a key message.

Choose channels that present the best return on investment in terms of time money,

resources and information. Deploy the most profitable channels first—the ones that

produce the most amount of visitors, revenue or actions leading to revenue:

First, use blogs, email, search campaigns and video. These channels gave us the highest

level of control and influence. We own these communication channels and have a direct

influence on what goes out. Our messages and links are shared and republished.

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Second, use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. We have less direct control with these sites.

We’re not hosting the content. We can tweet and post what we want, but ultimately the

stream of information we “push” could go anywhere, so we have secondary influence over

these sites.

Third, Pinterest, Instagram and Flickr. Avoid using these. We have the least amount of

ownership and control over these sites.

Write and test the content on the target audience.

Campaign Results:

• The benefit campaign dominated the online space with an average of 40% share of

voice for part of the launch, compared to its key competitors: World Health and

Fitness (19%), Jenny Craig (19.5%), Herbalife (11.5%) and Weight Watchers

(9%).

• Chatter about the campaigned maintained 94% favourable sentiment.

• Content shared on Facebook pages resulted in 140,966 total engagements, which

generated 14.8 million social media impressions over the year.

• The BENEFIT Facebook page grew by 5,252 “likes” or 2.2% over the year.

• The Twitter channel grew by 842 during the campaign period, equating to 13%

growth.

• YouTube subscribers also grew by 9, and video views increased by 800 during the

same two-week period.

• The conversation rate—from passive readers of the campaign messages to

participants in the BENEFIT program was 25%.

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Upfront Social Media Research

We conducted the following study to consider the potential effectiveness of a social media

campaign:

Do you currently have an account with a social networking site?

Yes, I do

No, I do not 1. In which of the following networking sites do you currently have an account? Check all that

apply:

LinkedIn

Facebook

Twitter

Other, please specify

2. In a typical day which one of the following networking sites do you use most often?

LinkedIn

Facebook

Twitter

Other, please specify

3. In a typical day, how likely are you to use a social networking site?

Extremely likely

Quite likely

Moderately likely

Slightly likely

Not at all likely

5. In a typical day, about how much time do you spend using a social networking site?

Hours

Minutes

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5. When you're on a networking site, about how much of your time do you spend posting things about yourself?

All of it

Most or all of it

About half of it

Some of it

None of it

6. When you're on a networking site, about how much of your time do you spend reading posts?

All of it

Most or all of it

About half of it

Some of it

None of it

7. If you use Facebook, about how much time do you spend on the site?

Hours

Minutes

8. If you use Facebook, how many connections do you currently have on the site?

Please scroll down.

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All Channels Combined

Audience Vehicle Purpose/Description Primary Social media First use: blogs, email, search campaigns and video. Second, use

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Third, use Pinterest, Instagram and Flickr Use key messages in pay per click marketing, search marketing and SM

Newspaper advertising

An advertisement ran in high-readership weekly rural newspapers and in the Calgary Sun, a daily paper

Magazine advertising

Advertisements appeared in regional magazines and monthly magazines to leverage the long-lasting impact that magazines have

Posters with

Post-it® tear sheets giving the toll-free phone no.

These were placed in patient waiting rooms in physician’s offices, weight-management clinics, and fitness facilities. Fitness facilities were chosen because consumers who are concerned about their weight visit them in droves. Posters were also placed in highly visible locations and re-mounted periodically in hospitals and Alberta Cancer Board centers by staff or volunteers.

Custom web site

A visit to this site would allow Albertans in the three regions to quickly determine if they were eligible to enroll in the study

Toll-free line

Participants could reach a call center to ask about their eligibility

Secondary Audience

Email

This would target specific demographic groups of people who were at risk of obesity-related cancer in the three health regions

Radio advertising

Pre-recorded 30-second spots were slated to run during peak listening periods for the initial launch and then as-needed for the rest of the campaign

Secondary Audience

Posters with

Post-it® tear sheets with the toll-free number

The interactive posters reached not only the primary audience, above, but also the secondary audiences (Influencers) following the email campaign

Tertiary Audience

Welcome- to- the-study kit

Albertans who were invited to enroll in the study learned how to implement and manage the weight-management program with information from the kit

Podcasts

These would be emailed to Albertans who were accepted into the study. The podcasts outlined all that participating in the study involved

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Timeline and Tactics

Start Date Tactic Audience(s) Purpose January

Identify the target audiences for both the study and the campaign.

Write the strategic plan, news stories, and key messages

(1) Albertans within a specific age and body-mass index who live in six health regions of Alberta. (2) Health-care providers, hospitals, cancer centers, weight-management, and fitness centers

Compare the Alberta audience against the required participants for the study. Ensure the study and campaign will be effective in reaching the right targets

Create social-media campaign Albertans where obesity-linked cancer is highest in Alberta

To reach the audience in three health regions

Hire an agency to design the collateral

To flesh out an identity for the collateral

Write the radio commercials Primary To ensure the audience hears the message through another medium

Ensure the cancer board is aware of the BENEFIT messages

Pitch the ad mockups to internal audiences before external

To determine the effectiveness of the messages from a health-care audience’s point of view

Develop a program to reach physicians

Physicians and their staff

Used to reach Albertans who may have health concerns related to being overweight

February Find pharmaceutical companies to take posters to clinics and to encourage physicians to recommend the program

Physicians who can recommend the study to their patients

To stimulate the medical audience to endorse and refer the program. To get their staff to mount the posters.

List the audiences to receive the poster. Call them to determine whether they would agree to refer clients and hang posters

Hospitals, cancer centers, weight-management and fitness counselors

To recruit study participants and encourage word-of-mouth publicity of the program in highly visible areas

March Contract a market research firm to re-test the collateral

For primary and secondary audiences

To conduct advertising effectiveness studies and indepth interviews.

April Write copy for the welcome kit Target Albertans

eligible to participate in study

Test the copy. Next, send the welcome kit to Albertans who call the toll-free hot line wanting to enroll

May Help recruit participants for the focus group study and interviews

(1) Alberta residents in specific regions and (2) physicians

Prepare for the first round of testing with the Albertans. Conduct indepth interviews with physicians

June Monitor focus group testing Primary audience Assess feedback

July Write articles on healthy eating for the website

For Albertans Educate them about the power of dieting the healthy way

August Refine messages in posters and advertisements as needed

For Prevention Ensure buy-in

September Revise the welcome kit to make it easier to understand

Prepare kit to reach the objectives set for it

October Retest the collateral To support the welcome kit

November Write podcast and internet copy

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Email Campaign

Launch an email campaign using MailChimp to create awareness among influencers in the

health and fitness categories for the three health regions.

Objectives:

1. Aim for 1,000 subscribers and the following results within the following range:

Company size

Open rate Click rate Soft rate Hard rate Abuse rate Unsubscribe

rate

1 - 10

22.15%

3.12%

0.75%

0.59%

0.4%

0.30%

11 - 25

21.22%

2.78

0.70%

0.55%

0.03%

0.25%

26 – 50

22.16%

3.16%

0.47%

0.36%

0.02%

0.18%

50+

23.57%

3.06%

0.70%

0.63%

0.03%

0.21%

Strategy: To get past spam filters avoid ‘spammy’ keywords and phrases, ALL CAPS or

too many exclamation points. Soft bounce means the recipient is “temporarily

unavailable,” so their mailbox is full or they’re on vacation. A Hard bounce means an

email address failed. Abuse complaints occur when recipients click the “This is spam”

button in their email programs.

Tactics

• Take the online tutorial for MailChimp and gain proficiency using the software.

• Write the sales message and test it on the target audience to gauge results.

• Edit and proofread.

• Put the campaign through the review process.

• Target the numbers above as a benchmark.

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Media Relations

Track outputs, out-takes and outcomes through a subscription to MarketWire, a CP wire

service that tells us where our stories are.

Outputs: Key messages in pitch letter and from posts and tweets communicated in the

news

For example, how often the key messages come up in news stories and social media.

Out-takes: Audience takeaways (changing

perceptions)

For example, the campaign resulted in a

28 percent increase in public awareness. What key messages did the audience get?

Outcomes: Quantifiable changes because of increased messaging, more traffic

For example, the campaign generated a 65 percent increase in positive mentions, which correlated to an increase

in support.

Objectives online and off-line:

1. Proactively meet every health journalist covering the three health regions, where

they are—searching stories online.

2. Generate 1,000 media impressions through infographics, Vine Video, YouTube and

other sites.

3. Generate 500 media impressions by executives connecting with campaign

journalists online.

4. Secure 75 stories in mainstream and trade outlets.

5. Continue to track coverage through Canadian Press (Market Wire).

Online Strategy: Create links to our news stories through infographics, Vine Video,

YouTube and other sites. Ask executives to make public statements on LinkedIn and use

other social strategies to communicate news. Deploy pitch letters to media first.

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Strategy continued:

When CEOs engage media, journalists typically pay attention. News reporters like it when

executives respond to their posts. Thanks to Vine video, infographics and YouTube, we

can communicate with news reporters faster than if our story were released in a news

pitch to key journalists. Plus, we’re writing the story and have control over the content.

Next, develop a news blog to attract journalists and bloggers to our content. Showcase

our expertise, testimonials and other key messages.

Tactics

• Update our media list and research journalists covering the health beats.

• Develop three stories on the research program and one on the campaign to insert

in a pitch letter.

• Connect with media online.

• Teach CEOs to “post” on the top three social-media sites.

• Assign Tweet decks, infographics and Vine Video Posts to the social-media and

design team, asking them to design the graphics.

• Write lengthier stories for mainstream magazines such as Apple, Barley Country,

and rural newspapers.

• Track the following:

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o Total mentions, mentions by geographic area, sentiment, executive mentions,

top articles, influencers, publications and speaking opportunities or coverage.

Results: Stories appeared in all the channels targeted even though publicity is not

guaranteed through media relations.

Media Relations Training and Issues Management

Objective:

1. Increase the number of spokespersons and experts we train for news interviews

from two to five individuals. Train them to answer as many questions as possible

when a reporter calls and to address any issues associated with the campaign.

Strategy: Think through issues associated with the campaign and how they should be

addressed in interviews. Train enough spokespersons to be available to answer interview

questions from reporters in traditional channels and in social media. Show them how to

deal with reporters in scrums, telephone interviews and news conferences.

Tactics

Find eloquent spokespersons and subject matter experts from every business area of the

company. Host media training sessions followed by actual news interviews in which

reporters fire interview questions to them.

Train each spokesperson to:

• Study all the issues associated with the campaign in our risk matrix. Comment on

how we are mitigating risks.

• Ensure they can speak from talking points, deliver facts and pre-planned messages.

• Understand the do’s and don’ts, including how to handle aggressive interviews and

how to bridge and transition to key messages.

• Handle on-camera and phone interview scenarios through practice sessions in front

of a camera with experienced news professionals.

• Know the difference between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ news. Know the various story angles.

• Tell the truth and speak inside your area of expertise or bring in an expert

• Do not predict the future.

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• Avoid blaming others for problems, disasters and wrong-doing.

• Keep responses to media succinct to make a point quickly.

• Answer who, what, when, where, why and how, and stay composed and relaxed.

• Come across clear, well-spoken and physically poised on camera.

• Understand that nothing is off-the-record.

Advertising

Goals

Website/ Hot-line

Email advt. and social media

Radio advt.

News- paper advt.

Sales- calls

Welcome kit

Posters Pod- casts

To generate enrollment

● ● ● ● ● ●

To increase advertising effectiveness

● ● ● ●

To track impressions, hits, reach, frequency, phone calls

● ● ● ●

To gain exposure in physicians’ offices, weight-management centers, and fitness facilities

● ● ● ●

To speed acceptance of the program

● ● ● ●

To provide a selling tool for the pharmaceutical sales agents

● ●

To create excitement about losing weight and earning $600

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

To reach large amounts of the target in each health region

● ● ●

To efficiently reach narrowly defined segments in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s if enrolment is lacking in particular age groups

●

●

●

Effectiveness of response can be easily measured

● ● ● ● ●

To increase enrollment when it drops

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

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Advertising Objectives

Advertising Effectiveness Research

Hire ResearchWorks to probe focus-group participants about the creative elements of the

advertising. Test for high marks on visual appeal, headline impact, copywriting clarity,

information value, credibility and persuasiveness. Studies show that eighty percent of the

readers who read the headline of an advertisement will skip the body copy.

Research Results

The first advertisements were dark blue and difficult to read. Without a second thought,

Albertans in focus groups vetoed them. During a second round of testing on orange

executions, Albertans suggested only minor improvements.

The advertising agency applied the same headlines, body copy and call-to-action to the

stand-up poster, welcome-to-the-study kit and other collateral to publicize the campaign.

The agency’s most senior staff and I agreed to use one spectacular advertisement that

would stand out from the clutter of advertisements crowding newspaper pages. They said

they could create several ads to rotate and maintain awareness. We wrote radio ads and

announcements for on-air DJs. DJ chat about the campaign needed to air before the

advertising campaign ensued.

The best ad showed a woman lifting a bowl of fruit and vegetables. Her head rose above

the advertisement. The intent of the slice-of-life or lifestyle execution would be to

communicate moments of good health, physical activity, and eating right.

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The BENEFIT headline communicated “safe and responsible cancer prevention” to

Albertans in focus groups. Plus, the news that the Alberta Cancer Board (a respectable

organization) was hosting the study added credibility to the campaign.

Albertans in the focus groups said they would be motivated by the ad’s call-to-action to

enroll in the study. Requests to enroll came in through social media, the hot-line and the

website, where they could fill out an enrollment form.

I also asked the agency to conduct a custom recognition test to prove communication

effectiveness. During the test, researchers asked research participants to recall the key

messages right after flipping through a mock newspaper containing the advertisement.

The ad was positioned in the small-town newspapers for the highest visibility, usually

inside the front cover of the newspaper or on the back page.

On the radio, I planned to encourage enrollment in the study by inserting the advertising

message into the audience’s head through high numbers of reach, frequency and

continuity. For the campaign launch, I wanted to keep awareness high through repetitive

exposure and “flighting” followed by hiatuses.

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Key Messages

The key messages for Albertans in the three health regions were:

1. BENEFIT through the Alberta Cancer Board’s new research study: Earn

$600 and cut your cancer risks by 50 percent.

2. BENEFIT: Earn $600 and cut your cancer risk by 50 percent in a new research

study by the Alberta Cancer Board.

The message for physicians who would recommend the program to their patients is: Fifty-

percent of cancers are preventable. Lower your cancer risk in a study by the Alberta

Cancer Board.

The message for Albertans who were invited to enroll in the study was: Earn $600 to cut

your cancer risk by 50 percent. Lower your cancer risk with the Alberta Cancer Board.

Advertising Objectives

1. Entice 6,500 Albertans (who are eligible to enroll in the research) to enroll. (Induce

trial)

2. Educate and remind them about the $600 incentive to entice 2,500 participants to

stay in the study. (Continuity)

Strategy

1. Avoid affluent markets since wealthier Albertans have the time and money for

fitness. The $600 would not be enough of an incentive to entice them to

participate.

2. Try to enroll less financially successful people who need a lifestyle or “health”

change

3. Target adults who have the most to gain in health and cash by enrolling in the

study.

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Advertise in rural papers only after determining whether we can write an article for them

or pitch a news story to the reporters.

Physician Communications

Objective

1. Deliver interactive posters to 539 physicians within the first three months of the

campaign to generate 1,500 media impressions.

Strategy: I enticed pharmaceutical sales representatives, who sell medication, to deliver

an interactive table-top poster to physicians’ offices. Their staff placed the inter-active

card-board poster in the lobby of the office or hung it in patient examining rooms.

Albertans could pull post-it notes from the poster. They contained our contact details and

reminded the target audience to call the Cancer Board’s call center or visit its website.

The stand-up posters were not “hidden” in an envelope, so physicians and receptionist

could read about the study right away and ask questions.

The sales approach involved reaching 539 physicians through the sales reps. When the

sales representatives from the pharmaceutical had time, they would also talk to

receptionists briefly about the study and give them a letter from the Cancer Board for the

doctor. Doctors were encouraged to invite their patients to enroll in the study if they

qualified for it.

Eight employees at Alberta Health Services agreed to hang posters in each hospital, and

20 employees at the Alberta Cancer Board agreed to mount the posters in the patient

waiting rooms of all Alberta Cancer Board centers. We contacted these influencers and

the pharmaceutical reps through the email campaign.

Results: Feedback from volunteers who collected the posters after the campaign said

that 428 posters were mounted and removed. Judging from the number of post-it notes

torn from the poster pads, the estimated number of impressions was around 1,700.

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Overall Campaign Measurement

The results for each individual communication channel are given above. This part of the

study gauges message recall for the entire campaign. Although I was not part of the

campaign evaluation process, I gathered these statistics from the communicators who

launched the campaign.

Objective 1

My first objective for the campaign: Stimulate interest and awareness of the Benefit

Research Study among 250,000 target-audience members (Albertans), thereby enticing

them to become study participants.

The results were as follows:

• Feedback from the Alberta Cancer Board communicators who launched my strategic

plan indicated that huge numbers Albertans had enrolled in one year rather than

two. This saved thousands of dollars on media buys.

• Focus-group research early in the program indicated that the advertisements and

messages would encourage Albertans to enroll in the study.

• My basic media buys indicated that Albertans in the targeted health regions would

learn about the Alberta Cancer Board’s study, and that 6,500 Albertans would

enroll. The number who enrolled was 6,632. Of that amount, the goal was to keep

2,500 in the study. The Cancer Board anticipated a large drop-out rate.

• Alberta Cancer Board communicators who launched my campaign plan reported

that word-of-mouth news spread quickly across the regions, especially in the towns

where word-of-mouth communications is more prevalent. The communicators

learned that 35 percent of the calls to the call center came from the rural health

regions.

• During the second year of the campaign, the Alberta Cancer Board’s Prevention

department planned to reach Albertans in additional health regions.

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ResearchWorks measured message recall levels. Albertans who participated in the study

were asked whether they could remember hearing, seeing or reading any of the following

key messages about the study. As shown in the right-hand column of the table below,

awareness levels were high:

Message Recall for the Launch

Question asked: “Can you recall hearing or seeing any of the following

communication messages in the following channel… “

Message Percentage who recalled message

Earn $600 to reduce your cancer risk by

50 percent. BENEFIT with the Alberta

Cancer Board.

68% Calgary Health Region

74% Chinook Health Region

72% Peace Country Health Region

BENEFIT, thanks to the Alberta Cancer Board: Earn $600 and cut your cancer

risk by 50 percent.




Fifty-percent of cancers are preventable. Lower your cancer risk by

50 percent in the Alberta Cancer Board’s BENEFIT study.




Earn $600 and cut your cancer risks by

50 percent. BENEFIT through the

Alberta Cancer Board’s new research study:




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Objective 2

The second objective is: Enroll at least 6,500 members of the target audience in the

research study (knowing that not everyone who enrolls in the study will remain in it).

This objective brought these results:

• When leaders reviewed the Welcome-to-the-study Kit, they added extra messages

and content. But by inviting them to focus groups to hear feedback on the kit, they

learned that the kit and the BENEFIT program needed to be simpler. The kit was

modified, and in the second round of focus-group testing, Albertans said that

channels ranging from radio commercials and table-top posters to print

advertisements and podcasts were greatly improved. What’s more, each

communication vehicle communicated ways to get Albertans to enroll in the study.

• I had anticipated that a significant number of people would drop out of the study.

Preventing avoidable cancers is inherently difficult. For example, participants were

asked to stop smoking, use sunscreen and change other ingrained behaviors to

prevent cancer. Even though drop-outs were inevitable, I compensated for them

by enrolling more than the required number of participants.

Objective 3

The objective is: Educate and remind target audiences about the $600 incentive to entice

2,500 participants to remain in the study.

The objective was reached.

• Feedback from the sales representatives indicated that doctors told their patients

to enroll in the study. In addition, roughly 68 percent of receptionists agreed to

display the stand-up posters in the patient waiting areas of their clinic.

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• Weight-management centers and fitness clubs encouraged their clients to enroll in

the study.

• Early in the program, indepth interviews with physicians indicated they were eager

to participate.

What would I do differently? With the budget available, I would hire an agency to

evaluate the campaign—to assess the results of each medium. I was hired to plan the

campaign only; her contract at the Alberta Cancer Board was temporary.

I would also recommend that special event consultants be hired to coordinate all the

logistics on launch day. The communicators who launched the campaign were stretched

to the limit even with volunteer help.

Budget

The campaign called for several hundred thousand dollars to cover the cost of hiring

Research Works and Tag Advertising, plus the cost collateral listed below.

The figures shown in the budget below have been removed in the interest of privacy.

Please scroll down.

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BUDGET

Amount budgeted for collateral: Planned Costs Actual Costs

Amount over/

under budget

Email campaign

Social media

Radio Advertising

Media relations

Print Advertising

Interactive posters for doctors

Podcast

Welcome-to-the-study kit

Website

Call Centre with 1-800 number

Focus groups and interviews with target audiences

Focus group participants’ fees

Meetings (snacks and handouts)

Tag Advertising’s fees

Printing costs

Travel/hotel costs for rural focus groups

Contingency

TOTALS Budget Actual cost Under/over budget

Condensed IMC plan

Healthcare

Transcript of Condensed IMC plan