Humor begets memorability. Thanks to comedic relief, we're all on a first-name basis with Jake from State Farm, Jim and Pam, and LiMu Emu (and Doug). Comedy captures attention, cultivates curiosity, and burrows deeper into your subconscious than the "Baby Shark" song (doo doo doo-doo doo-doo). Not surprisingly, then, a wee bit of wit and whimsy can often deliver dividends for marketers. Just ask the folks at Ensemble Health Partners. By employing a tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign, they generated show-wide visibility and more than a 100-percent uptick in leads – all despite a diminutive 10-by-10 exhibit and a seriously unfunny product.

Founded in 2014 in Huntersville, NC, Ensemble provides revenue-cycle outsourcing solutions for health-care organizations. And let's be honest: These offerings are about as sexy as Joe Exotic – and equally as difficult to understand. But here's a quick explanation that even the Tiger King could comprehend.

To realize operational efficiencies, many hospitals and health-care facilities outsource management of their back-office financial operations – just like they often do their laundry services, housekeeping duties, cafeteria functions, and more. These organizations reason that they can cut costs and streamline by farming out difficult tasks such as billing, claims, underpayments, invoicing, and collections. Firms like Ensemble take over these complex jobs and eliminate the related headaches; meanwhile, health-care providers typically see increases in profit margins and productivity and reductions in collection costs and insurance denials.

While relatively complicated, this outsourcing has been around for decades. As such, the industry has a handful of "incumbent" companies that play in Ensemble's sandbox. Similar to senior senators, these established firms are seemingly cemented in their enviable positions, which makes stealing their market share about as easy as ousting Patrick Leahy (who joined the Senate before "Jaws" debuted).

What's more, the five key industry shows at which Ensemble exhibits aren't all that different from the Senate floor, minus most of the backstabbing and infidelity. "The whole industry is very buttoned up," says Colt Briner, Ensemble's chief marketing officer. "I don't think anyone has told a joke in the revenue-cycle space since the early '80s." But going into the 2019 Becker's Hospital Review 10th Annual Meeting in Chicago, which many consider to be the industry's premier event, Ensemble hoped to change all that staidness.

Flatlined Results
At past Becker Annual Meeting events, Ensemble had (perhaps inadvertently) played nice with the senior senators, assimilating into the pack rather than distinguishing itself. "Previously we had a respectable 10-by-10 exhibit, but it looked like all of the rest of the booths," Briner says. "We had well-trained, friendly folks staffing the booth, and it was nicely branded. But there was nothing about it that stood out, and very few attendees left the show with a clear-cut memory of Ensemble." And when you're trying to generate awareness, blending in is losing out.

What's more, Ensemble's lead counts were less than lavish, measuring in the teens instead of the hundreds. Plus, while the firm tried to harness the power of social media, its efforts seemed to meld with the masses, becoming little more than idle chatter.

And reaching its target market of C-level attendees had been more difficult than a bipartisan bill surviving the House and the Senate. Many of the CEOs and CFOs the company hoped to influence never actually set foot on the show floor. Rather, they relegated exhibit-hall coverage to their companies' lower-level directors and vice presidents, or if they did visit the exhibition, they only talked with the incumbent firms with which they were already familiar.

So for the 2019 Becker Annual Meeting, Ensemble wanted not only to generate awareness commensurate with the industry's established players in the old-boys' club but also to increase lead counts, pump up its social-media prowess, reach elusive executives, and build buzz on and off the show floor. In a differentiation-driven ploy, Briner and his team reasoned that if they couldn't win at the established game, they'd create their own unique form of entertainment – and hopefully steal the spotlight by trading traditional marketing maneuvers for wink-worthy tactics.

Their delicious diversion ultimately took the form of a multipronged guerilla-marketing campaign the team called Ensemble's First Responders of Revenue Cycle. Granted, marrying a first-responders concept with revenue-cycle outsourcing might seem like more of a stretch than believing Donatella Versace hasn't had any work done. But Ensemble drew a direct correlation. Hospitals are first responders for health care, and as such, marketers surmised, they should focus all of their energy on saving lives. However, many organizations have triage-level revenue issues involving billing, claims, collections, and more, and that's where Ensemble can render aid. In effect, Ensemble is a first responder that offers support in the form of financial-management relief.

Translating this idea to the trade show floor could have easily taken the form of mundane messaging and themed literature. Ensemble, however, wasn't looking for easy and instead eschewed tedious, assimilationist devices for a cheeky parody. Three elements formed the core of the concept: a retrofitted ambulance deemed the Ensembulance, first-responder uniforms and gear bags (sourced from a legitimate law-enforcement supply store), and a mass giveaway of sassy T-shirts, whose text identified each wearer as a "Revenue Cycle Badass." In other words, Briner and his team would raise awareness by raising some eyebrows.

Parody Protocol
Ensemble's activation launched one day before the show doors swung wide. As attendees arrived at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, which hosted the show and housed most of its audience, visitors couldn't help but spot the Ensembulance parked out front. Purchased for roughly $30,000, a pittance given its meager 6-year age and Mercedes brand, the decommissioned ambulance included the interior trappings one might expect in an emergency vehicle. "It was fully appointed with all the buttons and gizmos, a disconnected oxygen feed, benches, and even an internal sound system," Briner says.
The exterior displayed traditional ambulance light bars on the front and back and two flashing fixtures on each side. However, marketers traded red lights for green, and they outfitted the undercarriage and lined the interior with additional emerald lighting to attract attention. Similarly, marketers switched out ruby-hued exterior graphics with green, white, and black imagery and text. For example, along with the Ensemble logo, the vehicle displayed the words "First Responders of Revenue" and text touting the company's offerings: full outsourcing, assessments, recovery and collections, and epic optimization. So before the show even opened, it was score one for Ensemble and goose eggs for incumbents.

The next day, the conveyance remained parked in the same locale (thanks to some handsome tips for the valets), where it drew ample attention. But the first responders of revenue – five Ensemble employees decked out in full EMT regalia (including combat boots, black uniforms, baseball hats, rubber gloves, and gear bags) – stole the show. Three crew members worked various off-floor environs, interacting with curious attendees and seeking out C-level execs. "Our staff cruised around the hallways with their duffle bags and uniforms that clearly identified each of them as a Revenue Cycle First Responder," Briner says. "At a conservative show like this, anyone not wearing a shirt and tie draws attention. So they garnered a lot of eyeballs with little effort."

Eager to engage with inquisitive attendees, first responders described the overarching EMT concept and relayed how Ensemble handles revenue-cycle emergencies. They also distributed business-card-size handouts that drove people to the booth and promoted an off-floor educational session hosted by Ensemble's CEO.

The booth, while visually pleasing, nicely branded, and highly functional, was a fairly standard 10-by-10 featuring a reception desk, a back wall with embedded monitor, and a small seating area. Rather than spending copious coin on a larger space or a concept-centric redesign, Ensemble put real, face-to-face marketing mediums – i.e., their first responders – center stage. Two Ensemble EMTs acted as traffic builders and lead qualifiers, as they quickly caught the eyes of passing attendees (many of whom took selfies with the crew) and lured them into discussions about their ailments and Ensemble's remedies. If visitors seemed interested in learning more, EMTs shuttled them to an Ensemble employee clad in traditional business attire, who shifted the discussion to a services demo.

Before attendees left the space, staff offered them each a "Revenue Cycle Badass" T-shirt. While the text might seem inappropriate for this stoic audience, Ensemble wagered that even business and finance professionals had a little "badass" inside – and if they didn't, they probably wished they did. "As soon as word spread about the shirts, people flocked to the booth to get theirs," Briner says. "Not only did the shirts get a ton of laughs and generate massive attention, but they also helped connect us with C-level executives. That's because lower-level finance directors often grabbed a shirt for themselves and a second for their CFOs."

Ensemble also promoted the T-shirts and EMT theme via daily social-media posts. Tagged with the show's hashtag, each post comprised a short video hosted by an Ensemble staffer, who expounded on the T-shirts, Ensembulance, first responders, and more from various locations throughout the show.

While the Ensembulance was parked outside the venue during most show hours, marketers maneuvered it to various positions to generate added awareness. For example, the show's reception was held indoors at the front of the hotel, where the exterior facade comprises clear glass. So staffers drove the vehicle (lights blazing) back and forth in front of the hotel. Meanwhile, first responders interacted with reception attendees on site.

Staff also employed the Ensembulance as a VIP shuttle. "Prior to the show, we contacted known VIPs from our internal database and offered them a free lift to various destinations, such as speaker dinners held off site, sporting events, and more," Briner says. Staff also extended the invite during impromptu at-show conversations with high-value prospects. The tactic not only generated critical one-on-one time with VIP riders, but given the flashing lights and the vehicle's green glow, it also sparked curiosity with attendees who witnessed it cruising the Windy City.

A Full Recovery
After the four-day show wound down, the Ensemble crew packed up their gear and headed home. In the process, though, they pocketed a little extra change. "Initially we hadn't intended to use the ambulance as a shipping vehicle," Briner says. "But soon after we purchased it, we realized it was the perfect way to get our exhibit, T-shirts, and even a few staffers to and from the show minus typical transportation costs." In fact, Ensemble saved an estimated $3,000 in travel and shipping expenses by packing its booth trappings (including two staffers) inside the Ensembulance and driving it to the show.
Back at the office, marketers sent leads a follow-up email but also employed a series of VIP 3-D mailers featuring first-responder vehicles. For example, one group of VIPs received remote-controlled toy helicopters that Ensemble branded with green stickers.

Designers also recreated the packaging so it displayed outsourcing benefit statements and renamed the whirligig the "Cashhawk, The Ensemble Collection Copter." Each mailer included a brief letter from one of Ensemble's business-development vice presidents who'd attended the show, thereby ticking the boxes as both a whimsical introduction and post-show follow-up medium.

Beyond general visibility outcomes, Ensemble's clever campaign also scored substantial returns. Compared to the previous year, the program saw a 107-percent increase in qualified leads. Plus, staff distributed every one of the 200 T-shirts they brought to the show. In fact, once they ran out, they noted the names of roughly 40 folks begging for badass swag, crafted a few more shirts following the event, and mailed a coveted garment to each prospect.

Along these same lines, social-media results soared. Ensemble's LinkedIn followers increased by more than 100 percent, its Facebook posts reached five times more people than the previous event's attempts, and Twitter engagement rates more than tripled. Not surprisingly, then, Ensemble employed the strategy at other 2019 shows, such as the Healthcare Financial Management Association's Annual Conference, where the concept achieved similar results. While several 2020 events on Ensemble's calendar were cancelled due to COVID-19, the company will likely retain the first-responders campaign once trade shows go live again.

Clearly, for Ensemble, a little comedy was jest the ticket. By not taking the show or itself too seriously, the company succeeded in generating copious curiosity and ample awareness – and resuscitated a program that was otherwise DOA. E