VM is one of the most respected hospitals in the country. It’s up there with Mayo Clinic, Duke, Johns Hopkins, but a lot of people in Seattle don’t know they exist. So, together with this remarkable institution, we’ve developed the campaign: Be Remarkable. And instead of just doing ads touting that, we tried to be remarkable with everything we do. It’s some of our favorite work ever. And the 4 out of 5 doctors at VM agree!

Sometimes, the most remarkable thing about surviving cancer is getting back to normal, everyday life. Our inaugural TV campaign for the Virginia Mason Cancer Institute featured real cancer survivors in the unremarkable moments of everyday life, doing the ordinary things that most of us take for granted. It was incredibly successful. We are really proud of this work.

We also created a series of water-soluble billboards that faded in the elements. Over a two-week window, the word CANCER faded completely away. In another set of billboards, CANCER was gradually tagged over by street art. We made sure each piece of graffiti was the name of a Virginia Mason doctor.

Cancer is a six letter word that the Virginia Mason Cancer Institute is literally helping to erase. So in that spirit we built a massive wall mural at the Seattle Center, spelling out CANCER in pencil graphite. Next we armed cancer survivors, family members and doctors with some equally huge pink erasers. The result? Besides watching cancer disappear, we captured dozens of personal survivals stories, news coverage, and inspiration for those fighting the battle—plus plenty of doctor-patient high fives.

Anyone can make a world-changing comeback. Virginia Mason Orthopedics and Sports Medicine has helped many of Seattle’s top pro athletes do it. So we asked three-time gold medalist Sue Bird to share the proverbial spotlight with some real patients who were ready to announce a comeback to what they love.

Did you know there’s a Virginia Mason medical center right in your own backyard? You’re not alone. Most people in Seattle had no idea there are actually 8 regional medical centers around Seattle. So we brought a team of actual, world-renowned Virginia Mason doctors into one couple’s backyard to prove the point.

Virginia Mason needed an anthem. After two years of focus on service lines like cardiology and cancer, we needed to tie it all together into one remarkable TV spot. It couldn’t feel like just another hospital ad. This anthem had to capture the energy and emotion of a Seattle medical center leading the world. After debuting this anthem during the 2016 Super Bowl it was praised internally as well as lifting overall brand awareness.

We Heart Hearts

Virginia Mason hearts your heart. The VM heart institute is ranked among the best in the nation for cardiac surgery, treatment of heart attack and heart failure.

Our Beat Poetry TV campaign captured all that breadth of expertise in beat poems about coronary bypass, arrhythmia, angioplasty and more. A cardigan-clad poet delivered them with swagger and style. Hey, Kerouac—eat your heart out.

We also let VM cardiac care patients take the stage, surprising them with a request to play the drums (even though they’d never played drums before). It was proof you don’t need perfect rhythm to keep a great beat.