Through an integrated campaign using both direct and mass marketing, Berenson, Isham & Partners, Boston, will help American WholeHealth, Reston, VA, promote its concept and build its business.
American WholeHealth, with centers in Boston, Chicago, Denver and Bethesda, MD, is a healthcare provider that integrates alternative therapies such as acupuncture and massage therapy with traditional medicine through physician-supervised treatment.
Initially, the agency plans to use mass media, particularly print, to raise awareness of the organization's centers and its healthcare philosophy.
“We are going to be doing a lot to mainstream the concept,” said Anders Ekman, president of Berenson, Isham & Partners. “We want to show people that the concept is credible, safe and that it's not something to be afraid of, it's not something you're experimenting with.”
Ekman said the agency will be aided in its efforts to bring the concept further into the mainstream by prevalent attitudes toward medicine and health care.
“It's really an idea whose time has come,” he said. “There seems to be a growing dissatisfaction with medicine. People aren't getting enough time with their doctors due to managed care. They feel in the limited time they have with their doctors, doctors just give them medicine to make them feel better rather than take everything — such as lifestyle and diet — into account. American WholeHealth takes a more global, holistic view of the condition.”
The print advertising awareness campaign, is scheduled to launch this month, followed closely by direct mail campaigns. Initially, mail will target certain groups predisposed to the concept, such as chronic pain sufferers and well- educated women between ages 35 and 65 who make more than $75,000 a year.
Later, the agency may explore more target audiences and may strike marketing alliances with natural food markets or other complementary businesses.
