Hospital advertising that doesn’t suck

You’ve probably seen lots of ads for hospitals and other healthcare services.

And yet I’d wager you would struggle to recall something remarkable about them – if in fact you can recall anything about them.

As is the case with much healthcare ‘creative’, ads for hospitals have a tendency to be bland, homogeneous and just, well, crap.

You know the sort of thing I mean.

A staged photo of people smiling and standing around looking healthcare-y. A clichéd line like ‘Quality care’ or ‘Making a difference’. Usually something about a mission or vision.

It need not be so.

There are some (albeit hard-to-find) examples of good hospital advertising. Ads that get your attention and communicate a simple, clear message.

Take this series of ads for Mt Sinai Hospital, for example, which I saw recently on Suzanne Pope’s excellent Ad Teachings site.

This one – my personal favourite – uses a great visual to communicate its message.

And these clever headlines perfectly demonstrate the ultimate benefit of the service in question.

This ad for the Everett Clinic is another example of the power of a strong headline. It also shows the emotional appeal that can be generated by including a little humour (an underused device in healthcare communications, in my opinion).

And finally there is this super ad for Lenox Hill hospital. I apologise for the illegibility of the body copy (I couldn’t find a better image), but suffice it to say that it tells a tangible and interesting story. And again, the headline is a ripper.

So there you have it. Hospital advertising doesn’t have to be boring.

And if you want yours to be more compelling, maybe we can help.

By Ryan Wallman, Head of Copy at Wellmark. Ryan tweets about healthcare advertising and pharma communications @wellmark_health.