How Breaking the Rules Raised a Hospital’s Brand Awareness from 17% to 68%
Published by Luminus, which sells healthcare marketing agency services. Not an endorsement by Healthcare Growth Strategies, Paul Gruensfelder or his employer. Sample/method: Healthcare Marketing Edge podcast episode 15 (February 24, 2026), an interview between Luminus CEO Tim Bouchard and independent healthcare consultant Deborah Castaldo; no sample or study method stated, and the results cited are anecdotal. Figures are the vendor’s and were not independently verified. Editorial standards
Breaking from conventional hospital marketing can raise awareness sharply, according to healthcare consultant Deborah Castaldo on Luminus’s Healthcare Marketing Edge podcast; host Tim Bouchard introduces her as having taken a hospital’s awareness from 17% to 68% in two years. Castaldo built the marketing department of a 125-year-old New England hospital from scratch, with no prior branding or collateral standards. Her tactics included placing messages where locals’ eyes land daily, such as ball-field fences and coffee-shop boards, a 50-yard high-heel dash on heart disease that drew Boston TV coverage, and a physician campaign called “Guess Who Came Home to Practice.” A mammography campaign addressed the 15-minute visit time, and she reports volume tripled on fewer machines.
Community hospitals and multi-site groups rarely outspend larger rivals, so this episode is useful for its method: find the real barrier by talking with front-desk, housekeeping and security staff, start with a physician who wants to grow volume, and track top-of-mind awareness with surveys over time.
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Is the 17% to 68% awareness figure verified?
It comes from host Tim Bouchard’s introduction. The episode itself does not confirm the figures or name the hospital, so treat it as the speakers’ account.
How did the mammography campaign work?
Staff timed a mammogram visit at 15 minutes, and the campaign addressed that time barrier. Castaldo reports volume tripled while the hospital moved from three analog machines to two digital ones.
How did Castaldo find the right message?
She advises talking to front-desk workers, housekeepers and security as well as physicians to find the real barrier, and starting with a physician who wants to grow volume so results can be measured.