The Challenges of Rolling Out a Campaign without a Launch Date
(May 25, 2005)

With many communications initiatives, you have control over when and where the program will roll out.

That wasn't the case with this public education campaign. Prairie Oak Communications was asked by the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS) to help promote a first-of-its-kind documentary on joint replacement surgery, which is a procedure that replaces a damaged joint with an artificial one.

"Total Joint Replacement: A Patient's Perspective," provided an inside look at the hopes, fears and triumphs of four real-life patients and their families. The AAHKS sponsored the film to heighten consumer awareness about the many benefits of hip and knee replacement surgery. Filming was completed in 2004.

One of the key challenges was that we didn't know when, or if, the 52-minute film would be picked up on public television.

We crossed our fingers and moved forward with our communications plan - creating a variety of patient-education documents for clinics and doctors' offices, preparing media materials, developing a comprehensive web page on total joint replacement (TJR), arranging for the tape to be sold online, and sponsoring a premiere party and screening.

It turned out the film would debut on Aug. 1 in New York City - the nation's largest media market. With less than a month's notice, we had to scramble to get all the pieces in place. The film also would air in eight other markets as the year progressed.

Through this campaign, the AAHKS was able to bring the story about the benefits of TJR to thousands of individuals via television and other ways.

As a result of the campaign:

• There was a 10-fold increase in activity on the AAHKS website.
• Hundreds of current and prospective TJR patients had access to educational and promotional materials about joint replacement via physician offices.
• AAHKS maintained visibility on the Internet as the story about the documentary appeared on key healthcare-oriented websites visited by millions of people.
• Thousands of individuals watched the film online, where it is available around the clock at www.or-live.com website.
• Key healthcare organizations partnered with us in our promotional efforts.
• More than 1,500 videotapes were distributed.

Moving forward when you don't know what to expect can be scary. But not being prepared can be a disaster.

-- Vicky Lekovish

Prairie Oak Communications and the AAHKS won a 2005 Silver Trumpet Award from the Publicity Club of Chicago for this communications initiative. The public education campaign also was recognized last month with the Crystal Award of Distinction from The Communicator Awards. For information about the film, please visit www.aahks.org.