Hey, here’s a refreshing change: A Radio Mercury Award winning commercial that’s actually…
Good.
This campaign has been running for a long time. But because the human stories they tell are so vivid and so relatable, the campaign continues to work. (Unlike a certain other long running, always award winning beer campaign…)
Some subtle strengths:
• Unlike 99% of radio advertisers, they do not begin with the advertiser’s name. They are too smart to open with, “At Mount Sinai Hospital…”
• Listeners are not told they are going to hear two parallel stories. They figure it out for themselves.
• Listeners irresistibly are drawn into the “what happens next?” aspect of the storytelling.
• The voice representing the “other” hospital is just as empathetic as the voice representing the advertiser. No attempt is made to demonize the competition.
• Think about the pictures this spot painted for you: The doctors catching the problem and immediately performing heart valve surgery…The arrival of the healthy baby…In other words, the results the advertiser is selling.
There Is Only One Dumb Thing About This Commercial:
The Call To Action.
“For more information, call 1-800-MD-SINAI.”
Huh?
For more information about…what?
You think I’m being too harsh? Go ahead, dial 1-800-MD-SINAI and tell the operator, “I’m calling for more information.” See what happens.
(This spot is so well done that I suspect we’re hearing the heavy handed results of a client insisting upon including their phone number.)
They’re also using a dumb vanity number. No one will remember “1-800-MD-SINAI.”
A vanity number is used when it’s important to get people to remember it. If the goal of this spot is to make people remember their phone number, this spot will fail.
If the goal is to get people to call that number (again, for reasons that have not sufficiently been explained), you want to make it as easy as possible for them to call.
Before listeners can call 1-800-MD-SINAI, they’ll need to translate it into digits. Why put that obstacle between them and the telephone call?
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Totally agree. One of the basics!
It’s similar to the radio contest “backwards solicit,” where the host tells the listeners to call a number BEFORE telling them why. “Call 765-4321 and win a T-shirt!”
Instead, give them the REASON to remember the phone number first. “Call and win a T-shirt now, at 765-4321!”
Inexcusable mistake for an organization (hospital) when every second can mean the difference between lowering the curtains or lighting your next birthday candle.
Wow! Though I have no intention of relaying personal details here, I can’t tell you how mind blowing it is to have a commercial that really speaks to this topic in a way that goes beyond hitting home!
Unfortunately most hospital advertising only talks about their amazing staff and their cutting edge technology.
This commercial REALLY drives home the point about care for the patient, even beyond testimonial ads!
But you’re right the call to action is stupid.
They should have left it at “Another day, another breakthrough”.
Or – to really drive it home: “Ask your doctor to schedule your delivery at Mount Sinai Hospital.”
I think we’re being a bit harsh. It’s a great advert. It makes you want to listen and hear it out. And although the call to action may be redundant, I can almost hear the discussions with the client and the copywriter:
“It’s perfect as is..” Says the Copywriter
“Yes but we’re paying for it and we need people to call us” says the client
“okay… but that wasn’t the brief…”
“Can we add our address?”
“eeerrr No – this advert doesn’t lend itself to that”
“We have a vanity number…”
“mmm (desperately) okay maybe we can add that at the end? (Thinks: and then my otherwise perfect copy will see the light of day”)
Or maybe it was the AE’s fault….
“Look Jim this doesn’t sell anything…”
“It sells the hospital”
“yeah but…why does the one guy repeat what the other guy says?”
“He doesn’t”
“mmmm well I dunno… I’m not sure the client will like it… maybe we should add a telephone number or something”
Copywriter sighs…
“well …okay”
You know its happened to you…
What a brilliant example of how uncomplicated and truly great creative can deliver a huge impact even after one impression.