Case Study Videos: Hank the Health Hero
Yup. This is a case study on case study videos.
We LOVE it because case study videos are a great example of something that can work for both PR/marketing and HR/internal comms.
WATCH: yes, this is a case study video about producing a case study video.😆 Get the behind-the-scenes story about Hank the Health Hero.
The Opportunity
Catholic Health Initiatives (now a part of CommonSpirit Health) has over 100 facilities in more than a dozen states.
With system leaders scattered throughout the country, CHI hosts a national leadership conference every two years to bring together managers and board members from its various hospitals and clinics.
The conference is an important opportunity for the communications team to help inspire and engage with the people driving the health system.
The Challenge
The theme of one such conference was building bridges. And when it came time during the program to address innovation, CHI’s comms team turned to us to help drive home their message.
Instead of yet another speech or panel discussion, they wanted to show a case study video. An example of something innovative that was building a bridge to the community.
The idea was to demonstrate to CHI’s market leaders that innovation comes in many forms. To inspire them to look for ways they can innovate back home.
We’d get bonus points for making a video that could be repurposed for external use as well.
Our Process
Step 1: discovery
The first thing we did was jump on a call with the comms team, and they had a couple of requests for us.
Produce an amazing video. No pressure. Seriously, they wanted a video that would get the attendees talking. Something that would truly inspire the them to go back to their markets and innovate. Remember, these are seasoned healthcare leaders. They know what innovation looks like. Our video needed to highlight a program that would still “wow” that kind of crowd.
Run the show. The conference was looming, and the comms team still had a lot to do. They didn’t want to babysit a video crew throughout the production process. Sure, we should keep them in the loop, but it was clear they needed us to be the storytellers and project managers.
We looked at a list of potential programs to feature. None of them would have surprised you.
Don’t get us wrong, everything was truly innovative work, but it was pretty “standard stuff” being done by doctors and nurses.
Thankfully, the last one on the list caught our attention.
You talk about innovation coming in many forms… this was it. A hospital program providing off the chart community engagement.
Next thing we knew, we were on our way to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to meet Hank the Health Hero.
Our Process
Step 2: lights, camera, action!
Yup. The boy at the center of the program we were counting on to “wow” the crowd… was a puppet.
CHI St. Joseph Children’s Health uses Hank the Health Hero to reach children and promote healthy habits like eating well and brushing teeth.
We planned a couple of interviews with the hospital president and director of education to talk about the basics behind their program.
This is when we had a great idea.
We noticed everyone talked about Hank as though he’s a real person, not a prop.
So… that’s how we would treat him in the video. Not only would we see him interacting with kids, we even went as far as interviewing him for the story.
Our Process
Step 3: story time
After a couple of days shooting in Lancaster, we traveled back to our office with everything we needed to inspire CHI's market leaders.
This is where we made another big storytelling decision. One that took some guts on our part.
The raw video of Hank with the kids was terrific, and the easy thing would have been to start the story with that.
He’s amazing.
However, we know the power of a good surprise when it comes to storytelling.
Instead of starting with Hank, we decided to use the first third of the story to explain some “standard stuff” about CHI St. Joseph Children’s Health. Then, knowing the audience would be thinking… sure, been there, done that… we would surprise them.
Enter Hank.
We used the rest of our time showing how he’s capturing the hearts and minds of children throughout the Lancaster area.
What we learned.
Our experience on this project confirmed some things for us.
When you’re looking for a story to tell about your health system, facility, people, program, et cetera… look for surprises.
We got pretty lucky with Hank. Thinking of him as a real person lent itself to a big surprise. Your reveal might not be as jarring, but the idea is to take the audience down one path, and then surprise them with a turn they’re not expecting.
Even a small surprise is enough to get the audience to reengage with the story.
Also, there’s no substitute for being on the ground where the story is taking place. It’s hard to imagine telling Hank’s story without seeing him in action. Doing it with photos or amateur video just wouldn’t have made the same impact on viewers.
Finally, while this was an internal project, case study videos like this would be just as good for PR and marketing purposes.
The Results
There’s no other way to put it. The video was the hit of the conference.
Attendees smiled. They took notice. They leaned in.
The comms team got the feedback they were hoping for. CHI’s market leaders felt inspired by the story and even planned to share the video with their own teams.
They left the conference ready to innovate and build bridges.
While the project took just over a week to complete, we only checked in with the comms team a few times. No bombarding them with questions, just progress updates.
You know you did something right as a vendor, when your customer comes back for more.
The CHI team was so pleased with the outcome, they ordered five more case study videos to share with market leaders through future email campaigns and virtual meetings… covering subjects like employee engagement and patient satisfaction.
Finally, we decided to submit the Hank video for a Telly Award… and we won! If you’re not familiar with the Telly Awards, it’s sort of like the corporate video equivalent of the Emmy Awards.
Yay us!
Let us help you.
So… where is your company winning?
Who is innovating?
Let’s talk about how we can help you tell these stories.
We are a resource you can turn to.
We are the Healthcare Video Specialists.