Life brings changes. The Defense Health Agency brought clarity.
Integrated marketing communications campaigns keep TRICARE beneficiaries connected throughout all life’s changes.
THE SITUATION
For many military families, relocating every few years for a permanent change of station can mean starting from the ground up: finding a new house, school, place of worship, grocery store, mechanic … again and again. After a while, adapting to change becomes second nature. But when it comes to navigating changes in health care plans? Even expert adaptors might need some help.
In 2018, the Department of Defense enacted sweeping updates to TRICARE, the military health care benefit covering 9.6 million military members, retirees, and their families. These changes, including new health care choices and plan rules, marked the most significant shift in coverage since 1995. As a result, millions of beneficiaries would now need to take action to remain in their current health plan or switch to a new TRICARE plan offering.
The Defense Health Agency (DHA) knew there would be no one-size-fits-all communication to get the word out. Not only were the changes themselves highly specific, but the audience constituted a diverse group. Imagine: a retired pilot living in Nevada, newlywed lieutenants in Germany, a Coast Guard recruit training in Cape May, a reservist in Florida, an active duty mother in Japan, and millions more—all at different stages of life, with different health care needs and priorities.
HOW DO YOU MEET PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE WHEN IT’S ALWAYS CHANGING?
THE SOLVE
Deloitte helped research the diverse beneficiary population, analyzing demographic and preference data for the target audiences down to specific postal codes. From there, we developed detailed personas to inform audience groups, such as health care providers and military hospital leadership, and crafted communications that would engage those groups across several channels.
The team designed an integrated marketing communications campaign called “Take Command” that balanced brand consistency with tactics tailored to meet audiences where they were and how they learned best. We worked with the DHA to find the balance between using community blogs, social media, direct outreach, and digital content, shaping every communication to align to the TRICARE brand, resonate with audiences, and meet accessibility design requirements.
To manage the high volume of communications tactics, we built a digital, go-to-market product pipeline that gave the DHA command of its communications products and delivery timelines. Since 2018, we’ve helped the DHA use the pipeline to manage an average of eight campaigns per year and 15,000 individual tactics or activities.
TARGETED MARKETING HELPED PROMOTE MAJOR CHANGES TO GENERAL KNOWLEDGE.
THE IMPACT
As the DHA rolled out its new communications, people took notice. TRICARE.mil rose from the fifth to the second most-visited Department of Defense website. Social media followers increased by 45% and blog subscribers by 50%. Deloitte’s “Take Command” campaign for the DHA won five industry awards, including three prestigious Silver Anvil Awards from the Public Relations Society of America.
But most importantly, now military members and their families know where to turn when it comes to their health care, no matter how many changes life sends their way.
Continuity when it counts most:
The DHA reached every household that needed to pay a new enrollment fee for the TRICARE Select plan and ensured more than 700,000 beneficiaries maintained their coverage.
Meeting millions of people right where they are:
Over 900 communications actions around TRICARE’s first annual open enrollment period helped 7.2 million affected beneficiaries make an informed decision about enrolling in a TRICARE health plan that fit their needs.
MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR EVERY SITUATION FROM ALPHA TO ZULU
Patrick Koeppl, PhD, MA
