Campaign: The New Way to Well
Agency/Firm: Deutsch NY
Client: Village Medical

A growing number of non-traditional providers are looking for ways to disrupt a healthcare industry plagued by disjointed care, impersonal interactions and patient quotas.

Village Medical’s “The New Way to Well” campaign, winner of the Best in Show Award in the 2023 Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards, highlights the primary care provider’s efforts to differentiate itself from the current model of care. 

The campaign, created by Deutsch NY, targets Medicare or Medicare Advantage patients with complex medical needs, encouraging them to seek what it says is a better alternative through Village Medical’s clinics.

Village Medical is a subsidiary of Walgreens-backed VillageMD. The pharmacy chain has poured billions of dollars into primary care, including a $5.2 billion investment into VillageMD in late 2021, which gave it majority ownership. The investment was part of Walgreens’ larger foray into healthcare services, joining other retail disruptors such as CVS and Walmart to compete in the space.

A key part of the disruptor business model is more patient-centric care, which “The New Way to Well” campaign emphasizes by showing a stark juxtaposition between its clinics and a traditional doctor’s office.

In one video clip, doctors are taking appointments in a factory setting, and clinicians attached to an overhead conveyor belt are pulled away, literally, from their patients mid-sentence. In another, clinicians and pharmacists fail to communicate fully as they stand on circular platforms spinning in different directions.

The campaign then shifts to a Village Medical clinic, showing an environment where physicians spend more time with patients and collaborate with pharmacists to determine the best integrated care plan.

The campaign launched with a 60-second online video depicting the factory concept, plus 30- and 15-second versions, along with other videos showing patients in a pharmacy setting.

Since the launch, Village Medical said the number of appointments exceeded its internal goal by more than 27%. Traffic to the website also jumped 160%, reaching an all-time high.

Village Medical has big expansion plans. It aims to open 1,000 primary care clinics co-located with Walgreens pharmacies by 2027.