Red Thread PR Awarded First Place for Health Care PR & Marketing Campaign

Inspira Health and Brownstein win for their quick-to-market campaign to honor health care workers, garnering 20 million+ impressions

Philadelphia, PA (December 17, 2021) – Brownstein and Inspira Health’s campaign, Blue Hearts for Health Care Heroes, has received the top honor in the 2021 PR Daily Awards in the Health Care PR and Marketing category. At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Inspira Health wanted to demonstrate its gratitude and support of caregivers and staff risking their lives treating COVID-19 patients.

As Inspira’s longtime agency partner, Brownstein challenged its PR, creative, social media and digital teams to develop an iconic campaign that would rival the yellow ribbon that encircled thousands of oak trees in the early 2000s. Within just 10 days from concept to execution, the answer was a grassroots campaign that allowed the entire South Jersey community, not just Inspira, to celebrate the bravery of all front-line staff and their unwavering commitment to protecting their neighbors. The campaign hinged on an icon that people could display in their windows to show their gratitude: a blue heart —simple and easy to make, yet clearly defined and recognizable

“Like the rest of the world, we were deeply moved by the endless dedication and care our health care workers provided in our own backyard, so our agency leapt at the opportunity to honor them in an iconic way that was uniquely Inspira,” said Laura Emanuel, Vice President, Director of Public Relations at Brownstein. “This was the first campaign our agency produced while working virtually amid the pandemic; the immense engagement it garnered underscores the creative integrity of our agency’s teams and ability to deliver effective work no matter our environment.”

As the world embraced a virtual life, Brownstein mirrored life in art through a digitally-focused campaign that relied on user-generated content. Using home-grown video footage from our clients, colleagues, friends and families, Brownstein quickly produced an authentic and heartwarming video that showed people of all ages creating blue hearts and placing them in their windows. With the campaign’s anchor video complete, Brownstein then developed unique illustrations and animations to bring the campaign to life across channels, including print advertisements, digital banner ads, social extensions (including visuals and post copy, along with the hashtag #BlueHeartsforHeroes and profile overlays), and more.

Within six weeks, the campaign resulted in nearly 20 million impressions and exceeded all industry benchmarks including click-through, video completion and view-through rates. Earned media coverage delivered uplifting — yet authentic — key messages that drove an audience increase of 40,000 across Inspira’s social platforms.

Inspira and Brownstein were awarded the top honor in a competitive category that included JPA Health and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, First Person Advisors and Ascension.

About Brownstein

Brownstein is an independent advertising and public relations agency based in Philadelphia. Founded at the height of the Creative Revolution in 1964, we are one of the longest-running independent agencies in the country, offering expertise across brand strategy, advertising, public relations, social media, and digital services. We build unstoppable brands by helping clients navigate the changing tides of culture and business with a focus on Brand Longevity™, and have worked with a range of companies including IKEA USA, Comcast Xfinity, DuPont™ Sorona®, TruGreen, The GIANT Company, ACI Worldwide, NJM Insurance Group, and Saint-Gobain North America. Brownstein is an Ad Age Small Agency of the Year, a PRNEWS Small Public Relations Firm of the Year finalist, and an inductee into Advertising Week’s Madison Avenue Walk of Fame.