Case Study:
HealthePERKS Brand Identity

CHALLENGE
The ISTA Financial Services Program came to Perna to help them get a new wellness program off the ground. The program was targeted at school corporations, and was unique from other wellness programs because it offered various online educational and tracking components as well as real cash incentives for participants for completing program goals.

Perna was tasked with developing an identity for the new wellness program, a strategic direction for promoting it, and effective materials for conveying its benefits.

SOLUTION
The first step Perna took was to name the program and develop a tag line. To do this, we analyzed features of the program and conducted competitor and trademark research. The end result were 18 potential names we generated and submitted for consideration, with HealthePERKS emerging as the ultimate winner. The name was coupled with the tag line “rewarding you for your good health.” A logo, stationery items, and participant card were created to provide the wellness program with a fresh, contemporary and appropriate image.

Next, we set about developing the strategy to market the program to two distinct audiences within school corporations. The first was school corporation administrators who would be responsible for the cost of the program but would see potentially lower insurance premiums and increased productivity from healthier employees. The second was school corporation employees who needed to be convinced to participate in the program.

To accomplish these goals we designed and wrote materials for each audience; a comprehensive brochure for the administrators detailing the cost-savings benefits, a poster and a small brochure featuring the health and financial rewards of the program targeted at the employees, and a web site for participants to track their progress.

These materials proved to be effective, and after the success of the program in the education market, the client decided to also market it to the business community. However based on this new directive, the materials which had been designed with a distinctive educational focus to the writing and imagery needed to be redesigned in a more universal format to promote the program to both markets.

Also at this time, the client enlisted our help in developing several new items which included a direct mailer to introduce the program to business prospects, a Follow-up Packet that could be sent to those prospects who requested more information, and a Participation Packet containing materials for new enrollees in the program.

Instead of the typical flat mailer, we designed a unique box mailer to ensure it would be noticed and opened by the recipient. As a tie-in to the HealthePERKS name and to pique curiosity, we printed the message “a small perk for you” on the outside of the box. Inside was a real apple with a HealthePERKS sticker affixed and a small brochure offering an overview of the program.

Designing the two packets presented an additional challenge, because the packets needed to be flexible enough to contain customized and varying amounts of information, yet both needed to appear complete regardless of the amount of information in them. Of course, production costs were a concern too.

To address these issues, we decided to create a single self-mailing container that could be used for both packets of information. It was designed and written to be flexible enough so that it could feature from one to five program components customized for individual businesses, but also present information to plan participants. This 2 for 1 solution not only saved money for the client but also helped the client portray a consistent brand image from the prospect stage to the participant stage.

RESULTS
To date, over 10,000 participants have been enrolled in HealthePERKS. The program continues to encourage participants leading a healthy lifestyle to maintain this behavior and encourage other participants to make positive lifestyle changes in order to improve their health. This in turn, will help lower long term healthcare costs for the participant and the employer.