Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo is launching a different kind of heart campaign.
The hospital, run by Orange-based Catholic hospital operator St. Joseph Health System, is calling on men to tell the women they love to get checked for breast cancer.
It’s something different from other breast cancer awareness messages already in the market, said Paula Serios, vice president of marketing and communications at Mission Hospital.
“The healthcare marketplace has become much more competitive in the last five to six years, so we needed an effort to have our message heard in all the marketing noise,” Serios said.
Mission is working with Milwaukee-based healthcare agency BVK/G. The ad shop launched similar campaigns for hospitals in the Midwest.
The campaign is getting its message out through TV commercials, print ads and even performance art.
Mission is airing 30-second TV spots on local and cable channels throughout the month.
In addition to TV spots, the hospital launched a Web site for visitors to get information on breast health, read inspiring patient stories and even request mammogram appointments.
Mission also is hiring actors to perform in locations including the Shops at Mission Viejo, First Thursday in Laguna Beach and Lake Mission Viejo.
“It’s not a way to be intrusive and to get the message heard in an unexpected way,” Serios said.
The female actor will be covered head to toe in white with the campaign message on her clothing. A male actor will follow her, dressed in regular clothes and distributing information.
The hospital also is using outdoor ads including on bus shelters and buses. Other places include woman’s restroom mirrors.
“Our typical woman is in a lot of places in Orange County,” Serios said. “We wanted to capture her in unexpected places so the message could break through.”
Mission also is working with South County employers to encourage female employees to take the time to get checked out.
The hospital is hosting “Think Pink Power Lunches,” where women coworkers receive limo transportation from work to Mission Hospital for mammograms, breast health discussions and lunch.
Mission has partnered with Irvine-based Kawasaki Motors Corp. USA, Dana Point’s St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort, Saddleback Valley Unified School District and Mission Viejo-based James Hardie Building Product Inc., among others, for the power lunches.
The campaign is expected to run through February, but elements of the campaign could continue afterward, Serios said.
Taco Bell and the NBA Last month Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. launched an ad campaign to phase out its tongue-in-cheek “weight loss” campaign.
The campaign featured commercials at this month’s Super Bowl and sponsorship of the National Basketball Association and its All-Star game, which was held this past weekend.
The campaign focuses on Taco Bell’s new “NBA Five Buck Box” and also includes TV and radio spots starting basketball hall-of-famer and commentator Charles Barkley.
The 15- and 30-second ads feature “Sir Charles” in his study composing a poem to the Five Buck Box with a feathered quill. Later versions of the ad campaign include Barkley’s musical ode to the Five Buck Box and an appearance by Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom.
The $5 box, which comes in two varieties, includes five “Taco Bell All-Star” menu items in special NBA packaging, festooned with images of the league’s biggest stars.
Taco Bell, which is part of Louisville, Ky.-based Yum Brands Inc., also launched a viral component of the campaign. Visitors to the brand’s YouTube.com site, Web site and site dedicated to mobile phones are given exclusive access to a series of five second videos featuring “Sir Charles” offering his thoughts on topics ranging from history to Taco Bell cinnamon twists.
Taco Bell replaced McDonald’s Corp. as the official quick-serve restaurant of the NBA in a four-year deal inked last summer.
The Irvine office of Chicago’s DraftFCB is handling the campaign.
Apparel Deals
Irvine-based Rusty North America has teamed with rock band Green Day for an upcoming line of hoodies.
The clothing maker, part of Irvine’s La Jolla Group Inc., has begun producing hoodies for men and women with built-in machine washable headphones and featuring original artwork from the band’s albums.
The collaboration will be available this summer and help to promote the band’s Broadway musical, “American Idiot,” based on the band’s 2004 album of the same name.
Green Day, which rides Rusty surfboards, has long been a fan of the brand, according to the company.
La Jolla Group makes surf-inspired clothes under the O’Neill, Rusty and Lost brands and motocross-style clothes under the Metal Mulisha label. It also recently acquired edgy streetwear brand True Love and False Idols.
In other La Jolla Group news, O’Neill Clothing has officially signed surfer Bobby Martinez to an endorsement deal.
Martinez has been widely regarded as the most sought after “free agent” in professional surfing. He completed the most recent surf season without the support of a major clothing sponsor, a feat unheard of in this day and age.
Martinez joins other surfers working with the brand including Jordy Smith, Timmy Reyes, Cory Lopez and Roy Powers.
