Covered California™ today announced it has hired Weber Shandwick, a leading global public relations firm with significant experience in health care marketing, to develop and implement a creative marketing and paid media campaign through April 2015. Covered California will retain Ogilvy Public Relations to assist on media relations and community outreach functions.
“We believe the health care experience of Weber Shandwick, coupled with their work with the federal exchange, will create significant results and cost savings opportunities,” said Covered California’s Executive Director Peter V. Lee. “We also will retain Ogilvy’s services for media relations and establishing our community outreach network that is so vital to our success.”
Weber Shandwick’s contract with Covered California includes strategy and overview forthe paid advertising campaign, creative development and production of advertisements, social and digital media strategy and execution, and collateral material development for consumers.
Weber Shandwick has considerable expertise in health benefit exchanges from having worked for six years with the Massachusetts health exchange – the Massachusetts Connector. It has been recently hired by the federal Health Insurance Marketplace. The integration with other health insurance marketplaces will likely reduce cost by sharing effective advertising products.
Contract funding is part of a federal grant to implement and educate potential enrollees about Covered California. No state general fund money is used for this contract.
The majority of the contract will go to purchasing California based media including multi-ethnic and multi-language television, radio, print, billboards and social media. The twoyear contract assigns Weber Shandwick an estimated $12 million in fees for overseeing $86 million of spending on advertising placements.
Covered California also will continue using Ogilvy Public Relations for media and public relations, and multi-ethnic community outreach efforts, including establishing a network of volunteers and business partnerships.
“This is truly an exciting time. We've just announced an outstanding selection of quality health plans with pricing rates that benefit consumers,” Lee added. “Now, with the pairing of two of the nation’s premier media companies, Covered California is positioned to create an abundance of awareness over the next year and half, and assist millions of Californians to enroll in a health insurance plan that delivers the care they deserve.”
Click here to view the original announcement.
