Colorado’s “Got Insurance?” was recognized as the best advocacy campain by the public relations trade publication Ragan’s PR Daily.
A Colorado campaign aimed at making health insurance hip to young people and women rolled out the message online better than anyone, and that’s why the publicity push by the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative and the liberal powerhouse ProgressNow Colorado was chosen as the best cause campaign in the country in PR Daily’s Social Media Awards for its “Got Insurance?” pitch for the Affordable Care Act.
Ragan’s PR Daily, the public relations trade publication behind the award, said the campaign was “simplicity itself” with “edgy content,” built on a satirical website. .
With the help of press releases and partnerships, the campaign got publicity from Buzzfeed. Slate, Mother Jones and some other national outlets, qualifying it to be called viral, according to PR Daily. Other states are trying the same thing, based on the Colorado campaign’s success, .
“Got Insurance? was simple, edgy, and fun by design, and that contributed to the projectap success far beyond our original expectations,” Amy Runyon-Harms, the executive director of ProgressNow, said in a statement.
How do you appeal to the tough-to-reach, even-tougher-to-impress audience of 20- and 30- somethings and women of all ages on the dry subject of health insurance? Answer: With fun, humor, and a fine sense of the ridiculous.
The spoof of the venerable two-word . “Got Insurance?” was the sequel to the same two groups’ “Thanks Obamacare” campaign in 2011.
“Our objective was simple: to inform as many Coloradans as possible about their new health insurance options available via Connect For Health Colorado,” stated Adam Fox of Colorado Consumer Health Initiative. “Because the message of Got Insurance? was effective across the nation, the campaign grew beyond Colorado, and helped raise awareness about health care reform from coast to coast. We’ve received requests from other states for creative materials from the campaign to help them promote reform in their own states.”
Besides Fox, PR Daily also congratulated ProgressNow’s Jen Caltrider.
“Anybody who’s ever had their content go viral will tell you itap not easy, but we were in the right place at the right time with the right message,” she said in a statement. “As a result, a creative project meant for Colorado consumption has been seen by millions of Americans–many more than the entire population of our state. Our fun and slightly provocative message filled a role at a key moment in the rollout of Obamacare. Today, millions of eyeballs later and with more Coloradans insured than ever before, we know we made the right decision.”
The trade publication PR Daily picked Colorado’s “Got Insurance?” campaigns as the best in its class.
