Audience-Focused Communications Plan Establishes Brand Recognition and Drives Donations

Challenge

Magee-Womens Research Institution and Foundation in Pittsburgh is the largest research institute in the U.S. dedicated to women’s health and reproductive biology. However, very few people knew of their work or that they existed, even within their hometown of Pittsburgh. Brunner was tasked with helping them gain greater brand recognition and ultimately drive donations. Not only were people unaware of their work, but also, they needed to establish their brand outside of the work they do with the well-known and trusted Magee-Womens Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Insights

• Brunner focused on Magee-Womens Research Institute’s backyard, Pittsburgh, to build upon the trust and recognition of the local hospital to bolster support for Magee’s mission.
• Brunner also focused on a key demographic, women, to help deliver a message that would resonate with them and make them more inclined to donate and help support Magee.
• Each generation has different drivers and behaviors regarding non-profit giving.

Strategy

• Brunner developed an audience-focused communications plan that contained a two-pronged approach to simultaneously grow awareness and increase donations efficiently, capitalizing on ownable points in time, while accounting for generational nuances.
• Brunner worked with Magee-Womens Research Institute to create assets that spoke to their three key audiences to have a message that would resonate. Brunner then worked to place those assets where the audience was: Streaming Video, Billboard, and Digital Channels.
• A three-phase brand awareness study was initiated in March 2022 to benchmark local awareness of Magee-Womens Research Institute and Foundation and to measure how it changed as marketing campaigns were rolled out. The phases were: baseline, during the multi-channel campaign, and during a campaign only focusing on donations.

Results

• During the multi-channel campaign, aided awareness of being “very familiar” increased from 16% to 26%, and name-level familiarity increased from 75% to 80%
• During the donations campaign, aided awareness of being “very familiar” decreased from 26% to 20%, correlating to the ending of the multi-channel campaign support
• Over 36 million impressions
• Over 128,000 clicks
• Over 5 million video completes