Care Matters

Raising National Awareness of State Medical Boards.

Overview

In 2024, the Federation of State Medical Boards approached Mekanic with the challenge of creating a national campaign that could bring public attention, awareness, and understanding to the work of state medical boards, while also building greater trust in healthcare professionals. The result was an ongoing campaign, now entering its 3^rd year, that uses scripted narrative storytelling to show how physicians interact with families throughout their lives, and how the trust those families feel is being fostered by the ongoing work of state medical boards.

Strategy

Because of our working relationship with FSMB, Mekanic was afforded unprecedented access to state medical board and healthcare leaders in order to gain their perspectives on what the public most needed to know, understand, and believe about their healthcare professionals as well as the work of state medical boards. These conversations formed the basis for the strategy of the campaign, with the aim of reaching women (often the primary “chief medical officer” in a family) as the primary audience, along with men and young adults. Out of dozens of potential campaign concepts developed, the list was narrowed to 3, and then presented to the FSMB Board with a recommendation, which was accepted. The first year of the campaign, entitled “Care Matters,” entered production in the fall of 2024.

Tactics

While originally proposed as a PSA-styled campaign, the team at Mekanic believed narrative, scripted storytelling held the best possibility for communicating effectively and emotively with audiences. Through stakeholder interviews and conversations with healthcare leaders, a story quickly emerged: how the work of healthcare professionals finds families at times of greatest need, and how state medical boards ensure that those moments of care can be trusted. Mekanic oversaw scripting, pre-production, production, and post-production – as well as building the greater campaign, “Care Matters,” visual identity and web presence.

Outcomes

In its first year, the campaign earned over 60 million views through digital channels, far outreaching its projections. In the 2nd year, that number is approaching 100 million views across social platforms, streaming TV, and traditional TV placements. Year 3 of the campaign, currently in production, looks to add state-by-state components to reach an even wider audience across the country.