This article was provided by NRC Health. For more than 40 years, NRC Health has led the charge to personalize healthcare and support organizations in their understanding of each unique individual. NRC Health’s commitment to Human Understanding^® helps leading healthcare systems get to know each person they serve not as point-in-time insights, but as an ongoing relationship. Guided by its uniquely empathic heritage, NRC Health’s patient-focused approach, unmatched market research, and emphasis on consumer preferences are transforming the healthcare experience, creating strong outcomes for patients and entire healthcare systems. 

In the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, advertising plays a pivotal role in connecting patients with the services they need. One example of this dynamic in action is the case of OSF HealthCare, a not-for-profit Catholic health organization that sought to refine its advertising efforts to best serve its community. A recently released case study delves into how OSF HealthCare partnered with NRC Health to employ innovative advertising research techniques, uncovering valuable insights that significantly enhanced its marketing strategies.

OSF HealthCare is constantly innovating to ensure its advertising not only reaches its intended audience but also resonates with them on a personal level. The organization wanted to go beyond traditional advertising metrics to gauge the true impact of its campaigns. The need for a deeper understanding of consumer engagement and perception became apparent, leading OSF HealthCare to seek a more nuanced approach to its advertising research.

Enter NRC Health, a company rooted in Human Understanding and specializing in healthcare consumer insights. Together, they embarked on a journey to harness advanced advertising research tools that would provide a clear picture of how potential patients perceived OSF HealthCare's services and campaigns. The cornerstone of this partnership was the implementation of NRC Health’s AdVoice, a tool designed to capture feedback from consumers exposed to OSF HealthCare’s advertising creative, giving marketing leaders a granular view of consumer engagement.

In 2022, OSF HealthCare utilized AdVoice to test creative impact and effectiveness on a multi-service-line brand initiative. Using direct consumer feedback on messaging, presentation, and engagement, the organization refined its creative in real time. The valuable feedback validated the work of the original campaign while providing clear direction for upward growth when it came time to refresh the campaign.

Given the important market perspective gathered in 2022, OSF HealthCare tested new core messaging in 2023, paying special attention to the primary service line to show quantifiable change.

The insights garnered from the research in 2023 were transformative. By understanding the specific elements that resonated most with its audience, the organization was able to tailor its messaging to best align with the needs and preferences of its consumers.

Compared to the 2022 AdVoice study, OSF HealthCare saw increased engagement for 2023 messaging, specifically for call-to-action engagement such as likelihood to utilize the organization’s website (a 52% increase over 2022), switching to providers or facilities (a 33% increase over 2022), and likelihood-to-recommend (a 22% increase over 2022).

OSF HealthCare’s experience illustrates how innovative advertising research can transform how healthcare organizations communicate with their communities, ultimately enhancing the patient experience and promoting better health outcomes.

“Quantitative research can only take your marketing so far,” says Susan Milford, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications for OSF HealthCare. “Adding qualitative insights allowed our consumers to give us input from their understanding, both logically and emotionally.”