Cathy Stell

“To achieve great things, two things are required: a plan and not quite enough time.” Leonard Bernstein As a marketing creative with more than two decades in high-pressure, low-resource situations, I can only say “amen to that”. My initial masterclass in living that motto was crisscrossing North America marketing live entertainment. Maximizing revenue in 40+ markets each year honed an ability to quickly assess challenges and opportunities, tailor a marketing strategy, execute the plan, monitor results and iterate on the fly. Basically, it was a nonstop boot camp for media buying, promotions, publicity, partnership building and juggling deadlines. A pivot to the nonprofit sector in 2010 allowed a refocusing from breadth and volume to depth and creation of longer-term marketing strategies. It also demonstrated how transferable and effective the traditional and nontraditional marketing tools I had developed could be. Kudos to Adelante Healthcare for a willingness to approach branding, social media, advertising and digital presence in fresh new ways. Their partnership allowed me to create a colorful, engaging, friendly and less moribund healthcare brand. New patients grew 10-12% year as marketing tactics like community outreach, events and promotions joined traditional advertising efforts. Over time, other departments began to ask how identifying and resolving roadblocks through effective messaging could help them reach their goals. A particular point of pride is the number of fairly conservative doctors won over by how the combination of light humor and promotional incentives motivates patient action. In an early case, a slightly edgy Bottoms Up Boxers campaign for colorectal cancer awareness month hit fairly stiff resistance. Admittedly, encouraging team members to wear custom boxer shorts over their scrubs IS unusual, but the whimsy was an excellent conversation starter and eased the “yuck” factor that often discourages patients and team members on the topic. The campaign also nicely ticked the boxes for great social media visuals, unique brand building and publicity. The results? In the first two weeks of the promotion, completed tests more than doubled. (As did requests for more promotions.) I am incredibly grateful for the growth and opportunity at Adelante over the past 9+ years and am looking forward to the next challenge. If this approach sounds like something which might benefit your organization, please contact me. I’m always happy to brainstorm ideas!