press releases
“Inspiring Care” Commercials Start Airing
05.10.08
Four television commercials created by Contrast Creative for Alamance Regional Medical Center, located in Burlington, North Carolina, will be begin airing this month. The four 30 second commercials will highlight therapeutic areas within ARMC and feature some of the hospital’s key staff members whose inspired lives inspire exceptional patient care.
“Alamance Regional Medical Center is a place of innovation, creativity, and rapidly expanding knowledge. It’s a place where lives are touched and changed every day,” says Kathleen McDonald, Contrast’s VP and Creative Director. “The medical center is successful because of its advanced medical technology, but more than this, it is outstanding because of the dedicated, professional, and caring people who work within the organization.”
Four staff members were identified to appear in the commercials: Dr. James Hooten, and nurses Ann Thompson, Rita Agnew, and Stephanie Brothers. Each medical professional told a compelling story of what inspired his or her career in medicine. While their motivations were all very different, each one found their calling in childhood.
“For Ann Thompson it was her father’s battle with heart disease when she was a young girl that inspired her career as a heart and vascular nurse,” explains McDonald. “For Stephanie Brothers it was a car accident at age five that landed her in the hospital surrounded by caring nurses that inspired her career as a Women’s Care Center nurse. For Rita Agnew it was a lifelong desire to help others that led her to her life’s mission as a cancer nurse. And for Dr. James Hooten, it was his parents who inspired him from the time he was little to make a difference and become an orthopedic surgeon.”
Contrast began production on the spots in late February 2008. Since each spot began in the childhood of the medical professionals, Contrast was charged with creating scenes from different eras, including the 1950s and 1960s. “We spent a lot of time and care casting actors to play our medical professionals as children. We also carefully cast their parents based on photos provided to us,” says McDonald. “Once we had the talent in place we scoured the area for the perfect props and wardrobe, including old-style nurses uniforms and caps, a vintage 1950s bike, and everything needed to re-create a 1960s hospital room.”
While the on-camera segments were shot in Contrast Creative’s production studio, other scenes were shot on location at the JC Raulston Arboretum and a 50s style home both in Raleigh. Contrast also shot on location at Alamance Regional.
“The spots have been incredibly well received!” says Tracey Grayzer, Director of Public Relations for ARMC. “They are certainly creating a buzz in the community and throughout the facility. In terms of building our perception and solidifying our brand position in the region, they achieved everything that we hoped they would! They really are beautifully done. Everyone comments on them. Even at our last board meeting, the president of the board of directors talked about how they were the best things he had ever seen.”
To review ARMC’s television campaign, please visit the Work section of this website.