When Blue Shield of California came to us several years ago, the challenge was to rebuild the brand and achieve aggressive acquisition goals. We needed a distinctive point-of-view to stand out amongst big spending competitors and a sea of sameness – something that we call blues confusion. Blue seems like the color of almost the entire insurance industry but most notably Anthem Blue Cross.

 

Our process began inside of Blue Shield. We gained a clear understanding of the drive and values that the organization had to achieve their mission of providing affordable and accessible healthcare to every Californian.

 

In contrast, consumers told us that they felt distrust, abandonment and “like a number” which was only exacerbated by how topical and divisive healthcare was (and continues to be) in culture and politics. The intersection of what the brand so strongly believed, and how our audience was feeling is where ‘interesting’ was found, and led us straight to the creative platform.

 

Our most recent work is a campaign called What We Stand For Sets Us Apart. As part of their mission, Blue Shield has always campaigned for equality, resiliency and the health of California communities. This campaign underscores that belief system. Their blue is more than a color. It’s what they stand for. It also carries forward the visual identity that we developed early on in our work with Blue Shield, creating a distinctive and engaging look in the marketplace.

 

We increased the gap with Anthem Blue Cross across all brand health metrics and those who were exposed to our brand campaign were also 2.5X more likely to consider Blue Shield. We have consistently achieved our acquisition goals both in terms of efficiency and volume.