Hemingway once wrote an entire story in 6 words, which he called his best work. ("For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.”) Fifty-five years later, Smith magazine, an online publication, recollected this story, and invited readers to submit their own 6-word stories. What followed was a brief Internet phenomenon fueled by thousands of submissions – 6-word memoirs, 6-word love stories, 6-word murder mysteries, 6-word inaugural speeches, and so on. I borrowed on this popular 6-word meme as a way to introduce, and shine a light on, “The Women’s Heart Initiative" for Main Line Health.

The home of the Women’s Heart Initiative was a website built around a powerful call-to-arms – an embedded video (on the left) that featured real women, no actresses, who had their own heart stories to tell. After building the site and producing the video, our media campaign (from TV and billboards to banner ads) got the word out to women everywhere… to go to the site, sign up for screenings, and bring their friends. Then, once the ball got rolling, subsequent messaging came from the women themselves via their own 6-word stories. 

The website offered a forum for discussion, blogs by MLH cardiologists, healthy eating/recipes, and announcements about monthly events, such as cooking classes, screenings, and lectures by well-known personalities. (Some of the personalities had little to do with heart care but were a major draw, allowing us to build our email list.)  

The results: approximately 2,500 women enrolled in the Women’s Heart Initiative during the initial 5-month period. (1,000 more than the client’s best-case projections.) During the same time period, cardiology appointments by women increased 11%  v. the year prior. Mini case study available here.

(Regarding the strategy: other hospitals had tried a hard sell/scare tactics approach. And though the strategy we developed also called for some hard sell, we focused primarily on creating an online community, and an atmosphere, in which women could learn, share and converse with each other – and with professionals. And, in doing so, begin to view Main Line Health as “the” authority and first choice for all things women's heart.)