The Pavone Group’s Super Bowl ad for PennState Health won’t be included in the list of the best national Super Bowl ads. Not because it doesn’t deserve to be listed among the best. It didn’t run nationally. The commercial is for a hospital network in Central Pennsylvania. It ran regionally to cover Pennsylvania. The audience is there and they still watch the biggest game of the year.

The commercial’s impact (and it has that in spades) comes from its “intrigue before the reveal” format – a story about bells (with captivating visual oomph), which culminates with the cancer-free bell, that signifies the success of PennState Health’s work.

“The strategy was simple – you don’t have to drive two hours east to Philadelphia or two hours west to Pittsburgh to receive world-class cancer care. Hershey [Pennsylvania] sits in the middle of the state and so does breakthrough medicine,” stated Rich Wakefiled, creative director, The Pavone Group.

“In the creative, we anchored the story in recognisable community moments – church bells, school bells, the everyday sounds that define the region. In a cancer center, ringing the bell means remission. It means hope. We connected those local bells to that powerful moment and landed on a line that made the message unmistakable – Breakthrough Medicine Lives Here.”

Credits:

Agency: The Pavone Group
CCO & Copywriter: Chuck Meehan
Creative Director & Art Director: Rich Wakefield
Production Company: The Inhabitants
Director: JB Carlin 
Editor: Julie Kravitz Gannon @ Cosmo Street
Music: Storefront Music