Background

With the goal of improving the healthcare industry as a whole and increasing patient safety, PLICO is dedicated to educating its policyholders and their staff on key issues of risk management.

One of the ways PLICO achieves this goal is through its annual EXPLORE

Healthcare Summit. Doctors, medical professionals and other healthcare providers from across Oklahoma gather to address the challenges faced in the evolving medical industry. EXPLORE offers continuing education credits for physicians, and serves as a key risk management tool for PLICO. It also promotes dialogue among Oklahoma’s medical leaders, striving to improve the quality of our healthcare communities.

Objectives

• Secure 385 attendees for the two-day conference.
• Receive an overall quality score of 4 out of 5 from participants.
• Achieve an 80% referral rate; meaning 4 out of 5 participants are likely to recommend the conference to a colleague.

Strategy

Educate potential conference attendants about the value of EXPLORE by deploying a three-tiered marketing initiative based on pre-show, during-show and after-show events.

The 2016 conference theme was “Explore the Open Road” and every aspect of the conference reflected that theme. All collateral pieces depicted winding roads, beautiful scenery and historic automobiles. The opening reception/party was hosted at an event space in Oklahoma City’s historic Automobile Alley. The main stage at the conference center featured a 1950’s Cadillac convertible, and the hallways were lined with stoplights and other theme-related memorabilia.

Tactics

1. Direct Mail
   Detailed registration brochures and “Save the Date” postcards were mailed to PLICO insureds, prospects and previous conference attendees.
2. Print Ads
   A series of print ads ran from May to August in Oklahoma medical publications. The ads touted key features of the conference and encouraged potential attendees to register online.
3. Email Marketing / Website
   An email list was used to distribute information about the conference. Each email linked to the conference website with current information. Emails were sent with increasing frequency as the date drew closer.
4. Mobile App
   To engage attendees during the show, we created a mobile app for the first time in conference history. To use our budget efficiently, we utilized an existing event app (DoubleDutch) and customized it with our branding/theme. The app consisted of a map, a detailed daily schedule, live Twitter updates from our event hashtag and photos from the event. We had 299 active users on the app, with 462 interactions.
5. Public Relations
   EXPLORE’s primary keynote speaker was Frank Abagnale, the man whose life is depicted in the movie Catch Me If You Can, starring Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio. Another keynote was Natalie Stavas, a physician who was nearing the finish line of the Boston Marathon when the 2013 bombings occurred and immediately began treating patients in the streets. These speakers were a big draw for local media, many of whom attended the conference and wrote feature stories about the conference and its speakers. Generating interest about EXPLORE after the conference sets us up nicely to begin marketing the next year’s conference.

Results

Overall, the 2016 EXPLORE Healthcare Conference was a huge success.

• Secure 385 attendees for the two-day conference.
  – 393 people attended EXPLORE – 102% of our objective!
• Receive an overall quality score of 4 out of 5 from participants.
  – Our overall quality score from attendees was 4.75 – 119% of our objective!
• Achieve an 80% referral rate.
  – 95% of participants said they would recommend the conference to a colleague – 119% of our objective!