• Client
    St. Luke's Health
  • Year
    2020
  • Role
    Creative and Media Campaign
  • Schedule a Chat

Big Houston heart

We used a city’s big heart to touch other hearts.

A little background. At the peak of COVID’s demoralizing rampage through our country and our city — we reached out to St. Luke’s Health with a big idea. A response. It was a proactive proposal that would act as a community catalyst. This would be the essence of engagement and community optimism.

Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner created a proclamation for “Big Houston Heart Day.”

If you see something, do something. We did.

Start with a big heart. Houston is known for its big, giving, empathetic heart. We decided that if there was ever a time to put that reputation to work, this was it. The campaign name said it all: “Show Us Your Big Houston Heart.” And the idea was simple — it was a “call-to-action.” We were asking people to make a heart sign with their hands, take a shot of it, send us that image, and we’d share it with everyone. In the process, we’d turn that hand-made heart into a message of inspiration and support for our healthcare frontline workers.

So what did we do that was so awesome? In the face of local lockdowns, we developed a multimedia campaign to address the community-wide emotional impact of the pandemic. This advertising both motivated and educated. And by the way, we did it all in a matter of days.

Big Houston Heart case study image

Being proactive means always playing offense. Never defense.

We put the Big Houston Heart campaign in front of our audience, daily. We used media channels the community could easily and quickly access, including:

  • Print ads to reach people staying up to date on the latest local news
  • Broadcast TV spot
    • Airing during local news to reach audiences watching COVID-19 updates
    • Running on streaming services, including Hulu, throughout content tagged as “comedy” to reach audiences fatigued with COVID-19 news
  • Paid and organic social posts that showed how to express support for frontline workers
  • Outdoor ads around hospitals and clinics

On top of all that, we added our audience’s voices through their participation. For example, we posted content that featured frontline workers — nursing staff and community partners — people who demonstrated amazing resilience and compassion in the face of the pandemic.

On May 19, Mayor Turner officially established the day as “Big Houston Heart Day.”

That proclamation drove an uptick in impressions and engagement on social media. And…our audience responded with plenty of user-generated content, which found a home on the landing page and pushed the campaign even higher.

Big Houston Heart tv frame screens

Anyone can create an impression — we created 5 million.

 

Our community responded by showing us their Big Houston Hearts.

  • total impressions

  • unique visitors to the landing page in 2.5 weeks

  • %

    increase in ad-supported engagement on Hulu

  • user-submitted photos

Recognition

AMA Houston 2021 Crystal Award - Resiliency Award
Healthcare Advertising Awards - Health Promotion Program - Silver Award
American Advertising Awards - Web/Interactive for Local Healthcare - Bronze Award