Leaders at Prominence Health Plan, an insurance provider whose services operated in Northern Nevada for several years and were aligned with the region’s third-largest hospital system, felt that their public footprint was limited in comparison to their competitors. They needed to get in front of consumers and healthcare providers, to understand why they weren’t as well-known by insurance brokers or consumers, and to sow stronger seeds that would one day become the roots that would better tie them to the community they served. They also wanted to make consumers more widely aware of their telemedicine service partnership.
As The Abbi Agency team member who develops the majority of our research initiatives, then translates the insights gathered from them into strategic and tactical recommendations, I was tasked with identifying key audience groups and developing a battery of ethnographic, qualitative and quantitative research questions to better understand what was working for Prominence Health Plan and what wasn’t. The insights gathered from these questions would help the team to put together a strategic document that helped Prominence choose smart advertising, corporate social responsibility, events and public relations tactics to increase their share of voice—which would translate eventually into greater market share in Northern Nevada.
The interviews were conducted by phone and via email with insurance brokers, healthcare providers and hospital administrators, general consumers, and employers. Each interview was audio-recorded (ethically), transcribed and coded. I then analyzed the information gathered from these interviews, identifying trends in sentiment, flagging notable statements, and aligning views expressed by these groups with potential messaging relevant to the organizational goals of the health plan. This process resulted in the creation of an Empathy Map—a tool which I frequently use to document deep insights into consumer groups by cataloging what they say, feel, think and do against quantitative data.
This data was then translated into a multichannel marketing plan which has informed the work of The Abbi Agency’s public relations department and media buying team members since 2018. It also helped to inform the language used to discuss the plan and its services across its marketing ecology, including its website. The brand has since updated much of its outreach collateral, conducting direct provider outreach, sponsoring/partnering with a wide variety of consumer-facing local organizations, and making smart media buys in publications throughout the region.
Notably, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization’s partnership with Teladoc has seen its market share grow significantly.
Visit the Prominence Health plan Website:
A Language of Being 