Sharon Hospital: A Solid Brand After an Unstable Past

The Challenge
Sharon Hospital is a 78-bed regional hospital serving northwestern Connecticut and eastern New York State. For years, the hospital mirrored the national shortage of qualified nursing and allied health staff–aggravated by the high cost of living in the region. Additionally, the hospital’s brand suffered from a history of fiscal mismanagement and a recent sale of the hospital to a for-profit model that left employees and the community skeptical about its future. But, in recent years, the hospital has been financially solid led by a strong senior management team and employees who were passionately committed to caring.

The Solution
Zone 5 conducted qualitative research among employees, residents and competitors to understand the current situation. On this foundation, we developed a campaign designed to simultaneously improve employee retention while changing perceptions of the hospital in the community. The resulting internal and external campaign was built around the multiple meanings of the tagline, “at the center of caring”. For employees, this served as a powerful reminder that they are at the center of every patient encounter and able to shape perceptions. For the community, the theme described “where” the hospital is. In support of this strategy, the ads and radio commercials featured real employees rather than actors and models. As the largest employer in the region, we knew that the “buzz” created by positive employee morale would be more powerful and credible than paid advertising alone. Therefore, our recommendation diverted a portion of our advertising budget into HR-related activities.