Anthem Blue Cross 'Our Health Connects Us' Campaign Receives Prestigious Social Media Award

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., Nov. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and its partner, Deutsch LA, received a 2010 Forrester Groundswell Award for its "Our Health Connects Us" campaign.  The award was in the Business-To-Consumer (B2C) Division:  Social Impact:  Anthem "Our Health Connects Us" by Deutsch LA.  A key component of the campaign was the utilization of social media to reach members and consumers beyond traditional broadcast and print media.  Anthem was a pioneer in social media use and has become widely viewed as an industry leader.  Earlier this year, Anthem was awarded a Silver Effie for the "Our Health Connects Us" Campaign.

The Forrester Groundswell Awards support and recognize the principles outlined in the Forrester Research books Groundswell: Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies (Harvard Business Press, 2008) and Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business (Harvard Business Press, 2010).  This year, there were more than nearly 130 entries to the Forrester Groundswell Awards in four divisions including Business-to-Business (B2B) Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Management, and International.

The fourth annual Forrester Groundswell Awards were announced this week at the Forrester Consumer Forum in Chicago.  "It's an honor to be recognized for this campaign along with our agency, Deutsch LA, but even more of an honor to know that the ideas, technologies and concepts we are continuing to build upon, are truly impacting people's health in a tangible way," said Kate Quinn, the vice president of corporate marketing for Anthem's parent company.  

Through television, print, outdoor, online media and experiential events in key Anthem markets, "Our Health Connects Us" told the story about how our health behaviors and habits not only affect us, but our entire social network and that an individual's health choices directly influence the health and well-being of family members, friends and others in their social network.

"Our Health Connects Us" also introduced people to the Health Footprint(SM), a measure of health influence.  The integrated advertising campaign then invited people to Anthem's microsite, anthem.com/connects, where visitors can calculate their own Health Footprint.  An Anthem branded Facebook page, Twitter feed and YouTube channel supported the effort, and Bob Harper from "The Biggest Loser" joined the cause too, regularly adding his own inspiring perspective on living a healthier life.  The campaign initially ran in four Anthem markets - Indianapolis, Reno, Cincinnati and Milwaukee.

Quinn added, "As part of the nation's largest health benefits company, we feel a personal responsibility to help all Americans be their healthiest. We knew our campaign had to be more than another health and wellness message from another health insurance company.  We needed to inspire our audience to take action and  engage with their health, and what could be more motivating than knowing your own health has a direct impact on the health of your family, your friends, and even co-workers and neighbors."

"It is an honor to work with a company like Anthem that embraces new media as part of truly integrated marketing campaigns and utilizes them in such a meaningful way," said Kim Getty, EVP, executive director, Deutsch LA.  "Embarking on this program took true company-wide commitment – especially given that social media creates conversations a company has to embrace and engage in.  The team at Anthem was courageous in developing this program with great results to show for it and it has served as a platform to successfully continue to build on going forward."  

Anthem.com/connects has received almost 400,000 total site visits to date with traffic to site with year over year growth of over 80 percent.  The site generated steady traffic week over week during the course of the campaign and users were actively engaged with the Health Footprint calculator.  Additionally, Bob Harper's Twitter page has generated more than 100,000 followers.

The Forrester Groundswell Awards recognize excellence in achieving business and organizational goals with social technology applications. The awards program was developed to support and recognize the principles outlined in the Forrester Research books Groundswell: Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies (Harvard Business Press, 2008) and Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business (Harvard Business Press, 2010).  More information about the Forrester Groundswell Awards is available at:  http://www.forrester.com/empowered

About Anthem Blue Cross

Anthem Blue Cross is the trade name of Blue Cross of California.  Anthem Blue Cross and Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company are independent licensees of the Blue Cross Association. ® ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc.  The Blue Cross names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross Association.

SOURCE Anthem Blue Cross