Meridian Success Story: 2

Evanston Northwestern Healthcare

A Health Care Organization is Repositioned to Meet Competitive Market Conditions and Thereby Wins Meridian Associates the Advertising Research Foundation's 2006 David Ogilvy Award

• Client Issue: Would risks outweigh advantages of changing the name of the Evanston Hospital group to Evanston Northwestern Healthcare?
• MAI Contributions:
  After conducting a series of market studies among current and prospective Evanston Hospital patients in the geographic areas surrounding Evanston Hospital and its satellite operation, MAI concluded that:

1. Name Change Would Be An Asset: A more direct association with the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine would be a distinct advantage to Evanston Hospital
2. Advantages Outweigh Risks: Fears that the hospital would be considered a "more impersonal" institution were more than overcome by transference of Northwestern's "leading edge medical care" reputation

• Results:
  Improved Revenues and Competitive Position: On launch of the name change, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare’s competitive standing in its market areas improved significantly. Annual growth of net patient revenues accelerated from 7% before to 17% after the new name was adopted, with total revenues reaching $1 billion