Press Release 2009
MULLIN/ASHLEY WINS FOR ATLANTIC GENERAL HOSPITAL IN THE 2009 ASTER AWARDS COMPETITION FOR EXCELLENCE IN MEDICAL MARKETING
Chestertown, Md., May 7, 2009– Mullin/Ashley Associates has been recognized in the 2009 Aster Awards national competition with a winning entry for Atlantic General Hospital, a community healthcare service provider located in Berlin, Md., near Ocean City.
A Gold Award was won by Mullin/Ashley in the competition’s “service line promotion” 
category for a set of marketing materials designed and produced for Atlantic General Hospital’s new Endoscopy Center. The integrated package of collateral and marketing support materials includes a brochure describing the Endoscopy Center and its services, various pieces of stationery and other branded material, plus a branded pocket folder. In addition, a series of print advertisements was developed for placement in the numerous newspapers and lifestyle magazines that are published in the Ocean City area.
Atlantic General Hospital’s Endoscopy Center was opened to fill a need for specialized healthcare services in a rapidly expanding suburban/bedroom community that also plays host to a burgeoning beach/tourist population during the spring, summer and fall months. The Ocean City region is one of the fastest growing areas in the state of Maryland. Since their publication, the Endoscopy Center marketing materials have been distributed at health fairs, placed in the offices of primary care doctors and referring physicians, as well as included in “new mover” welcome packages.
The Aster Awards is a major national competition recognizing excellence in medical marketing communications. With approximately 3,000 entries submitted to the 2009 competition, each one was judged on criteria including creativity, layout and production quality, as well as overall message effectiveness and consumer appeal. All winners at the Gold level achieved scores above 90 on a 100-point scale.
This is the third consecutive year that Mullin/Ashley has entered and won in the Aster Awards competition. Phillip Nones, president and director of client services, stated, “Winning in the Asters is reflective of the strong, positive reputation we’ve earned in the healthcare field over the past decade. We are pleased to accept this award on behalf of our client, Atlantic General Hospital.”
MULLIN/ASHLEY RECOGNIZED AT TWO HEALTH CARE COMMUNICATIONS COMPETITIONS WITH FIVE WINNING ENTRIES
March 27, 2009 – Mullin/Ashley Associates has been recognized in two competitions for award-winning communications programs created for three of its healthcare clients. The recognition includes three awards won in the annual Alfred Knight Awards competition along with two awards received in the annual Service Industry Advertising Awards national competition.
Conducted by the Maryland Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development, the Alfred Knight Awards recognizes outstanding work in the field of healthcare marketing and communications. The awards were announced at a gala event held at Sheppard Pratt Hospital in Baltimore County on March 27, 2009.
A First Place award was given to Mullin/Ashley in the “Advertising Campaigns” category for development of a marketing campaign promoting Atlantic General Hospital’s “30-
minute ER promise.” The ER promise pledges that patients will be seen by a physician or other caregiver within 30 minutes of arriving at the hospital’s emergency room.
Atlantic General Hospital’s ER pledge was a “first” for any hospital on the Delmarva Peninsula. The campaign was launched with a media event that included interviews with local print and broadcast media. The campaign’s main message, “We put the urgency back in emergency,” was featured on outdoor billboards and in newspaper and magazine advertising. A radio commercial was also produced. The campaign received heavy positive coverage in the local media. Over the coming year, visits to the hospital’s emergency department rose significantly as a result of the increased awareness of Atlantic General Hospital’s commitment to service excellence in the ER.
The Albert Knight award is not the only one that has been won for the 30 Minute Promise campaign. The campaign has also won in several national competitions including the Healthcare Marketing Awards, the Summit Marketing Effectiveness Awards and the MarCom Awards.
Also in the Alfred Knight Awards competition, two awards were won by Mullin/Ashley for communications programs created for Anne Arundel Medical Center. A First Place award was received in the “Print Ad Series” category for an advertising campaign showcasing continuing progress in the hospital’s major expansion initiative. A series of large, page-dominant ads are designed to keep the excitement level high, along with reporting on important construction milestones and completion of facilities. The ads also drive traffic to the hospital’s web site where detailed information and photos of the construction activity are displayed.
Also tied to Anne Arundel Medical Center’s expansion activities is The Chronicle, a monthly newspaper designed and produced by Mullin/Ashley that provides details on construction activities at the hospital’s Medical Park campus. Printed in a large broadsheet size, the newspaper “chronicles” progress via field reports plus a timeline of completed components. Additional information for patients and their families is provided to help them navigate the construction zones on the campus. The Chronicle newspaper program won Second Place recognition in the “internal newsletter” category.
In addition, The Chronicle newspaper became a Merit Award winner in the sixth annual Service Industry Advertising Awards national competition. This program is billed as the only competition that focuses exclusively on communication achievements in the service industry, which includes healthcare services, associations, utilities, financial services, educational institutions, hospitality and entertainment. Nearly 1,200 entries were submitted in this year’s competition and were evaluated by a national panel of judges for creativity, content, production quality, and overall audience appeal.
Also, a Bronze Award was won in the “external publications” category for the Nursing 
Executive Summary – a special publication designed and produced by Mullin/Ashley for the Maryland Hospital Association. The piece was published to heighten awareness of the shortage of nursing professionals in the state of Maryland – a shortage that is expected to become more serious in the future. The piece was presented as a “quick read” in a clear and simple format suitable for a non-medical audience, with the information presented in a thoughtful way, yet with a clear point of view.
Commenting on the awards won for the work performed for Atlantic General Hospital, Anne Arundel Medical Center and the Maryland Hospital Association, Phillip Nones, Mullin/Ashley’s president and director of client services, said, “Winning in competitions such as these underscores the success of our efforts to produce programs that get results for our clients. We’re pleased that our work is viewed so positively, based on rigorous standards of excellence in the healthcare communications field.”
MULLIN/ASHLEY WINS AWARDS FOR THREE CLIENTS IN MARCOM CREATIVE AWARDS NATIONAL COMPETIONS
January 16, 2009 – Mullin/Ashley Associates, Inc., an integrated marketing communications firm serving the Mid-Atlantic region, has been recognized in the 2008 MarCom Creative Awards competition with three award-winning entries. The awards include a Platinum, a Gold and an Honorable Mention for communications programs produced for three clients: Atlantic General Hospital, Kaeser Compressors, Inc., and the Global Security & Engineering Solutions Division of L-3 Communications, Inc.
A Platinum Award was won for developing a marketing campaign promoting Atlantic General Hospital’s “30-minute ER promise.” The ER promise pledges that patients will
be seen by a physician or other care-giver within 30 minutes of arriving at the hospital’s emergency room. The pledge was a “first” for any hospital on the Delmarva Peninsula (and only the second one in the state of Maryland). The campaign was launched in 2007 with a media event that included interviews with local print and broadcast media. Adopting the message platform “We put the urgency back in emergency,” outdoor banners and billboards were unveiled, along with newspaper and magazine advertising. A companion radio commercial was produced and began running several months later. The campaign received positive coverage in the local media, focusing on the fact that Atlantic General, unlike other hospitals, was willing to make a strong pledge of this kind to its patients.
A Gold Award was won for an “air demand analysis” brochure developed for Kaeser Compressors, Inc., a leading worldwide manufacturer of compressed air systems and equipment. This equipment is used in a wide variety of manufacturing facilities, where control of energy costs is always a critical issue. The brochure focuses on how Kaeser’s air demand specialists will conduct in-plant surveys to review and analyze a facility’s complete air system operation – and recommend how the facility can lower energy costs by taking specific corrective actions that will result in a more reliable airflow. This brochure is helping Kaeser “get the word out” about the benefits of air demand analysis evaluations, and is being used in customer presentations and onsite tours.
An Honorable Mention Award was won for producing a video introducing the new L-3 ACCOLADE™ wireless mesh peer-to-peer mine communications and tracking system for the Global Security & Engineering Solutions Division of L-3 Communications, Inc. The ACCOLADE™ system enables centralized monitoring of mining operations in virtually any underground or above-ground environment, and provides real-time voice and data capabilities for all mine personnel. The video explains and demonstrates the capabilities of the ACCOLADE™ system, including on-camera commentary and video footage filmed at a coal mine application in West Virginia. The video helps viewers “see” the system in operation without having to travel to a remote mine location site. In addition to being presented to mining company officials, the video has been shown at global industry trade events such as the MineEXPO triennial conference.
The MarCom Creative Awards is an annual competition that honors outstanding work in the communications field. Entries are judged by a select panel of members of the Association of Marketing & Communication Professionals (AMCP) according to superior benchmarks of quality, across 20 major communications categories. It is one of the largest and best-established award programs in the industry, drawing more than 5,000 U.S. and foreign entries in the 2008 competition from advertising and public relations agencies, corporate communications departments, designers, writers, and broadcast producers.
