You don’t expect St John WA to have a sense of humour but smiling at the little misadventures the organisation deals with makes this GP recruitment campaign, The State of Misadventure, a joy. Each execution resembles a beautifully illustrated postcard of far-away exotic locations. The campaign is aimed at recruiting GPs from across Australia and New Zealand for St John’s expanding network of services, including general practice, urgent care and dental.
“Western Australia is a painfully beautiful state, with an emphasis on the ‘painful’ if you’re not careful… which is why St John are recruiting more GPs to treat all of our adventure-bound ailments,” explained 303 MullenLowe executive creative director, Rich Berney.
Artist Jessica Smith worked with 303 MullenLowe’s creative team to crafted the idyllic illustrations that juxtapose the beauty of the state’s natural wonders with the “misadventures” that may lead to an Urgent Care visit.
“We know GPs trained in Australia and New Zealand have a far broader skill base than GPs in other parts of the world,” added Smiljka Dimitrijevic, strategy director, 303 MullenLowe. “St John’s co-located GP and Urgent Care services provide an ideal environment for GPs who like their work to encompass the full breadth of their medical training with a little adrenaline on the side – and our creative communicates exactly that.”
As well as demonstrating the challenging medical situations faced by staff at St John’s Urgent Care facilities, the idyllic scenery depicted also aims to illustrate (and reaffirm) why WA is a great place to live.
The campaign comes at a time when Australian is experiencing a nation-wide shortage of medical professionals, compounded by a growing need for more of them. The campaign’s success rests not only on delivering cut-through, but also in reaching this time-poor audience that has limited mental availability for advertising messages. The campaign’s still and video executions are running across medical industry publications, industry websites, social and digital platforms – specifically targeting GPs in WA, interstate and NZ. Activity is also underpinned by direct and search activity.
To further support campaign activity, 303 MullenLowe also assisted St John with updating its website, highlighting other roles available at St John Health Centres such as nursing, radiology and dental, and built a GP campaign-specific site which can be viewed here.
Katherine Rafferty, marketing specialist at St John, stated, “Like many health services, we’re facing challenges in recruiting qualified staff to deliver much-needed health services to the WA community. This meant we had an opportunity to think differently and stand out. Bringing GPs from overseas and interstate to work in Western Australia means we’re growing public access to primary care services and helping people stay well and out of hospital. We already know Western Australia is a fantastic place to live and work, and this campaign shows how GPs can balance lifestyle and interesting work with one of Australia’s most well-known brands.
“We’re excited by the humorous and attention-grabbing approach that 303 has developed creatively, coupled with an optimised media approach. As an organisation that is firmly founded on an understanding of the human need, we’re excited to be the ones to break the monotony of recruitment advertising and hopefully add a smile on the faces of people who have been inundated and overworked for the past two years, at least. We hope it snaps them out of their everyday and sets them off daydreaming about the kind of life they could lead.”
Credits:
Client: St John WA
Marketing Specialist: Katherine Rafferty
Agency: 303 MullenLowe Perth
Executive Creative Director: Richard Berney
Art Director: Stephen Hansen
Senior Writer: Maya Halilovic
Head of Art: Andrew Allingham
Strategy Director: Smiljka Dimitrijevic
Business Manager: Ashleigh Glenister
Business Director: Eloise Cribb
Senior Business Director: Holly Creasey
Producer: Jonathan Julius
Head of Design: Alby Furfaro
Designer: Matthew Tomlinson
Finished Artist: Suzanne Whoston
Media Director: Sasha Neame
Media Manager: Sophie Park
Media Coordinator: Sam Fisher
Illustrator: Jessica Smith
Audio Production: Cue Sound
Audio Engineer: Shaun Sandosham
