Healthcare Marketers’ Secret Asset: Me
Yes, me, and others like me – the people behind the scenes at our agency (or within a client’s in-house creative department) who create the actual work that the public sees.
The reason I use the word “secret” is that many clients have never met me. I don’t show up at their offices and give Powerpoint presentations. So they don’t know who I am or what, exactly, I do. But those of us in my role are major assets for our clients.
Thanks to us, their last-minute changes are done by deadline. Boxes of their shiny new brochures arrive from the printer on time. And, most important, their strategies are transformed into ads, banners and websites that persuade people to choose their hospitals.
If you’re still wondering what I do, I’m an art director/designer. And usually when I tell people that, they ask, “OK, but what do you DO?”
Well, I concept, design and create all of the visual elements of a hospital’s marketing campaign. I spend many, many hours in front of a computer working with Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, iMovie, etc., making brochures, ads, direct mail pieces, Web display ads, videos and much more; playing with fonts, colors, layouts and typesetting; searching for pictures, graphics and vectors. When I’m not at my computer, I go on photo and video shoots. A photographer myself, sometimes I’m the one behind the camera on these shoots.
“Wow,” people say, “that sounds AMAZING and SO FUN.” But the recipe is missing some important ingredients. These include frantic project managers telling me: “We need it NOW,” “The client has more changes,” “We had the wrong ad specs,” “There are more changes,” “The printer called and said the file doesn’t open,” “The logo is too small, make it bigger,” “Wait, more changes!” And all of that is before lunch. But it’s what makes my job interesting!
I am fortunate to have the opportunity to do what I love, in a cool environment, with fun co-workers, while learning a lot and interacting with all kinds of amazing people. From a client’s perspective, I may work behind the scenes. But that’s where the critical work is created – the elements that prospective patients interact with and are moved by.
Speaking of behind the scenes, here’s a behind-the-scenes “making of” video I shot during the production of TV commercials for HCA East Florida with Helio Castroneves, an Indy car winner. Enjoy!
Angela Muñoz
Angela is an Art Director and Photographer at Brown, Parker & DeMarinis Advertising. Her passion for design and photography makes her an integral part of our creative team taking care of small projects, ads and resizes to larger campaigns.