A New Ad Campaign for Kaiser Permanente

By TANZINA VEGA

Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest health care providers in the United States, is rolling out the latest installment of its nine-year-long advertising campaign, “Thrive,” on Friday.

The slew of new ads will coincide with the first day of the Olympic Games. It will include radio, digital, print and television spots created by Campbell Ewald, the company's agency of record, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies.

“All the way through, we've been emphasizing Kaiser Permanente's role as a total health advocate for our members,” said Christine Paige, the senior vice president of marketing and Internet services for Kaiser Permanente. “That means that commitment to comprehensive coordinated care with an emphasis on prevention, early detection and great clinical care when people need it.”

The ads come at a time when health insurance companies are trying to soften their images with ad campaigns that show them as consumer-friendly health care companies, not just insurance providers.

“We're not an insurer,” Ms. Paige said. “We're health care delivery, first and foremost.”

The ads take different approaches depending on where they run.

One television spot, called “Small Stuff,” focuses on the Kaiser successes, like “getting hypertension under control for over 80 percent of our members.” Another spot, called “Patient Info,” focuses on electronic health record technology and shows patients waiting to see their doctors and trying to answer questions.

“Honey, what's my blood pressure medicine called?” says one man in a cellphone call to his wife as he sits in an office. “One time I took something and I blew up like a puffer fish,” says another man in a hospital gown. “I'm probably allergic to that.”

“Over the past couple of years there's been much more discussion in the policy world a bout electronic health records,” Ms. Paige said about the decision to advertise that service. “It's easier to communicate about it now because at least the concepts have some familiarity.”

Digital ads have more of an Olympic feel. One video ad shows a group of synchronized swimmers and the tag line, “Synchronization: Good for swimming. Better for your health.” A second digital ad shows two men playing soccer in a lush meadow with the tagline, “We work as a team for a different type of gold.”

Rado ads have their own niche. “Health care is a little bit of a complicated story to tell, and radio gives you a bit more space than something like TV,” Ms. Paige said.

Radio ads will run in markets like San Francisco, Denver, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., while television ads will run during shows like “The Voice,” “Person of Interest” and “Glee.” Digital ads will be seen on sites like USA Today, BBC, Yahoo Sports, Disney and Pandora, w here Kaiser has also created its own music channel.