New Highmark Health advertising campaign is 'all about positivity'

Pittsburgh-based Highmark Health's insurance company and its Allegheny Health Network (AHN) launched a new corporate marketing campaign this spring, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. The new campaign is optimistic--a shift away from Highmark's past efforts.

"It's really about changing the tone," said CEO David Holmberg. Consumers have grown frustrated with the dispute between Highmark and rival University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, but the new campaign takes a different tone: "It's all about positivity," Holmberg told the Gazette.

Holmberg suspended negative campaigns when he took over as CEO last May, the article noted.

Detroit agency Doner has created separate but coordinated messages for the Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance business and AHN as part of their campaign, according to the article.

The tagline for the insurance side of the campaign is "All for health," expressing that everything the insurer does is to help members live healthy lives, said Doner CEO David DeMuth.

"Health for all" is the slogan for the provider side, showing AHN is committed to serving everyone in the community.

"We didn't take an oath to help some of the people," DeMuth said. "We took an oath to help all of the people."

The move toward positivity isn't just a Pittsburgh thing. UnitedHealth recently launched a new ad campaign infused with humor, as FierceHealthPayer previously reported, including an ad featuring a middle-aged couple injured while reenacting a scene from Dirty Dancing.

To learn more:
- read the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article