To help fill the breach, enter HealthSparq, an online and telephonic service to personalize health care costs in advance.

HealthSparq knew it wasn’t enough to have a great product; they needed a killer branding and consumer engagement strategy. That’s where our team came in.

Using playful illustrations and an honest, light-hearted tone, HealthSparq set out to articulate and address the real problems that real people have with medical bills.

Aim for the unexpected

The common expectation among consumers is that health care is confusing, that shopping for health care is impossible, and that dealing with medical bills isn’t fun.

Taking our cues from the HealthSparq team, our strategy purposefully set out to change that mindset through the element of surprise—giving users simple messaging that led them to an easy-to-navigate tool.

While we can’t make medical bills any fun, the campaign featured fun—even funny—taglines to engage users and encourage them to give HealthSparq a try. Our team melded copy and design together to bring light and humor to the topic. For example, in a campaign encouraging expectant parents to comparison shop for a hospital: “Because the perfect hospital isn’t on your registry.”

The approach was far from the typical jargon-laden communication patients generally receive. The hand-drawn images also were a welcome change from the all-too-common smiling family of four.

Cast a wide—neon—net

The trick in delivering on HealthSparq’s full promise is to make health care shopping the new normal. Our strategy aimed to gain users through sustained, multi-media campaigns targeting pedestrian health events.

Each pulse campaign focused on medical events that are ripe for comparison-shopping. Once users have experienced the value of knowing personalized costs—before receiving surprise bills—individuals are more likely to return when the stakes are high.

Our campaign strategy couldn’t be a one-size-fits-all approach. From construction sites to university settings, HealthSparq’s client workplaces have unique challenges in reaching employees. Each company also has a unique benefits strategy, plan designs and patient tools. Each of our five campaigns included media elements—emails, articles, posters—to offer plan sponsors the flexibility they needed.

The eye-popping price disparities for health services aren’t always relevant to a given population. Additionally, medical providers are at different stages of offering price and quality information publicly. Together with HealthSparq, we honed in on health issues and concerns that offered consumers the best opportunity to find tremendous value in shopping for health care services.

Build a campaign with character

At times, illustration works better than photography—the right illustration can be friendly, modern and surprising. Working together with HealthSparq, we found a way to truly differentiate the HealthSparq message to consumers.

Our team drew a custom character—affectionately called Thumbman during development. Thumbman allowed us to target an extremely broad audience. His lighthearted appearance forced the team to find unconventional ways to frame abstract concepts like health care consumerism.

He became a mainstay across our work, creating a distinct and memorable branding image that stands out against the sea of expected health care photography.