NVRH and Flek Inc. Receive Three Marketing Awards

From left to right: Flek Inc. partner Keith Chamberlin, Flek Inc.partner Florence Chamberlin, NVRH Marketing and Communication Coordinator Katie Moritz, Flek Inc. partner Amy Hale and VP Marketing and Community Health Improvement Laural Ruggles.

ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. (June 29, 2021) – Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH) and Flek Inc. have received two Bronze awards from the 38th Annual Healthcare Advertising Awards and one Gold award from the Aster Awards Program. The Bronze awards are for the hospital’s 2020 Annual Report, Resilience in a Global Pandemic, and the COVID-19 ad series. The Gold award is for the COVID-19 Vaccine ad, Be The Herd.

The Healthcare Advertising Awards is one of the oldest healthcare advertising awards competition. To select the winners, a national panel reviewed each submission, and entries were judged on creativity, quality, message effectiveness, consumer appeal, graphic design and overall impact. Similarly, the Aster Awards Program recognizes healthcare marketing professionals for excellence in advertising, marketing and communications. Winning entries are judged by a panel of industry experts and are published in the Marketing Healthcare Today magazine.

The theme of all three awards was the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When it came to the 2020 Annual Report and the COVID ad series, marketing was all about public health messaging,” said Laural Ruggles, VP Marketing and Community Health Improvement. “It wasn’t just messaging about what NVRH and its services could do for you, it was messaging that empowered and educated our communities about what they could do for themselves to stay safe.”

Many individuals and community partners contributed to the success of the Annual Report. Unlike in past years, when much of the photography was planned, the 2020 Annual Report incorporated a collection of photos submitted by staff and community members of how they managed their work and their lives during the pandemic.

The intention of the COVID-19 ad Be The Herd, which won Gold, reinforced the message that getting vaccinated wasn’t just something you do for yourself alone, but something you do for the health of your friends, neighbors and family members.

“This year’s work with NVRH was highly rewarding — and more collaborative than in years’ past,” Keith Chamberlin, Flek Inc.’s co-owner said. “There was a greater urgency to the work. It was gratifying to use our skills to educate folks in our area about NVRH’s critically important public health efforts.”

Flek Inc. is a graphic design, web development and advertising firm located in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Its three partners are Florence Chamberlin, Keith Chamberlin and Amy Hale. Together, they have more than 90 years of experience as designers, photographers, writers, web designers and marketing professionals. To meet their clients’ needs, they also work with outside producers, printers, illustrators, videographers, and manufacturers.