Medica + Essentia
Duluth Takeover
To boost Medicare enrollments in Northern Minnesota, Medica partnered with Essentia Health—Duluth’s largest health system—to launch an aggressive, co-branded media blitz. Within a three-week turnaround, we developed and executed a flexible design system that brought Medica’s typically restrained brand into loud, high-visibility environments. The result was a fully integrated campaign that reintroduced the brand through bold, hyper-local creative expressions deployed across print, digital, environmental, and transit media.
Medica + Essentia
Duluth Takeover
To boost Medicare enrollments in Northern Minnesota, Medica partnered with Essentia Health—Duluth’s largest health system—to launch an aggressive, co-branded media blitz. Within a three-week turnaround, we developed and executed a flexible design system that brought Medica’s typically restrained brand into loud, high-visibility environments. The result was a fully integrated campaign that reintroduced the brand through bold, hyper-local creative expressions deployed across print, digital, environmental, and transit media.
Medica + Essentia
Duluth Takeover
To boost Medicare enrollments in Northern Minnesota, Medica partnered with Essentia Health—Duluth’s largest health system—to launch an aggressive, co-branded media blitz. Within a three-week turnaround, we developed and executed a flexible design system that brought Medica’s typically restrained brand into loud, high-visibility environments. The result was a fully integrated campaign that reintroduced the brand through bold, hyper-local creative expressions deployed across print, digital, environmental, and transit media.
The campaign had four core objectives:
Increase Medicare awareness and enrollment in the Duluth market.
Visibly associate Medica with Essentia Health to reinforce trust and familiarity.
Extend Medica’s brand system to high-volume placements without compromising consistency.
Execute a region-specific media plan within a rapid three-week window.
The campaign had four core objectives:
Increase Medicare awareness and enrollment in the Duluth market.
Visibly associate Medica with Essentia Health to reinforce trust and familiarity.
Extend Medica’s brand system to high-volume placements without compromising consistency.
Execute a region-specific media plan within a rapid three-week window.
Strategy: Push the Brand Without Breaking It
Medica’s brand is system-driven and conservative. Duluth required the opposite: scale, motion, and saturation. The creative strategy hinged on treating our very first asset—a half-page newspaper ad—not as an isolated deliverable, but as a design keystone. That layout introduced scalable motifs (Medica’s Zeus shapes, a broadened gradient system) and typography grounded in the existing Direct Mail playbook. These elements formed the visual backbone for every other output.
Strategy: Push the Brand Without Breaking It
Medica’s brand is system-driven and conservative. Duluth required the opposite: scale, motion, and saturation. The creative strategy hinged on treating our very first asset—a half-page newspaper ad—not as an isolated deliverable, but as a design keystone. That layout introduced scalable motifs (Medica’s Zeus shapes, a broadened gradient system) and typography grounded in the existing Direct Mail playbook. These elements formed the visual backbone for every other output.
Building a Cross-Format Design System
Typography, photography, and layout conventions were evolved—not reinvented. Print layouts were scaled up into large-format environments; gradients became bolder; negative space was pushed to create rhythm and break. The system was designed to flex: from the intimacy of a sidebar ad to the full sensory impact of a stadium hallway.
Building a Cross-Format Design System
Typography, photography, and layout conventions were evolved—not reinvented. Print layouts were scaled up into large-format environments; gradients became bolder; negative space was pushed to create rhythm and break. The system was designed to flex: from the intimacy of a sidebar ad to the full sensory impact of a stadium hallway.
Duluth Skywalk: Environmental Design as Narrative
The Duluth Skywalk—Duluth’s only footpath across the interstate—became our most visible canvas and a natural funnel for foot traffic. Every available surface was wrapped, lit, or filled with co-branded creative. Corridor walls, pillars, and digital displays carried the campaign in sequence. As pedestrians turned corners, they encountered our story in deliberate order.
Duluth Skywalk: Environmental Design as Narrative
The Duluth Skywalk—Duluth’s only footpath across the interstate—became our most visible canvas and a natural funnel for foot traffic. Every available surface was wrapped, lit, or filled with co-branded creative. Corridor walls, pillars, and digital displays carried the campaign in sequence. As pedestrians turned corners, they encountered our story in deliberate order.
Sequential Experience Design
Walkers were first met with high-impact plan messaging. Next, they passed full-scale portrait photography, each image aligned precisely to eye level to create intimacy and reinforce viewer connection. Pillar tops were left white to direct visual weight to the bottom—where our key messages and logo appeared. Strategic logo placement gave the mark breathing room, reinforcing brand recognition without clutter.
Sequential Experience Design
Walkers were first met with high-impact plan messaging. Next, they passed full-scale portrait photography, each image aligned precisely to eye level to create intimacy and reinforce viewer connection. Pillar tops were left white to direct visual weight to the bottom—where our key messages and logo appeared. Strategic logo placement gave the mark breathing room, reinforcing brand recognition without clutter.
Campaign visuals were ported directly into web-native formats. We took over the Duluth Tribune homepage and deployed display assets across digital placements, including leaderboards, sidebars, and inline ads. Each asset was optimized for screen but preserved the bold, stripped-back aesthetic established in print and environmental executions.
Impressions: 1,047,741
Clicks: 4,211
CTR (Click Through Rate): 0.40%
Campaign visuals were ported directly into web-native formats. We took over the Duluth Tribune homepage and deployed display assets across digital placements, including leaderboards, sidebars, and inline ads. Each asset was optimized for screen but preserved the bold, stripped-back aesthetic established in print and environmental executions.
Impressions: 1,047,741
Clicks: 4,211
CTR (Click Through Rate): 0.40%
Transit Activation: Extending to Street Level
Transit media reinforced campaign visibility throughout the community. Full bus wraps and bench ads carried the same co-branded design system—scaled for fast-moving, high-traffic surfaces. These executions extended the campaign’s reach to street-level audiences and daily commuters.
Transit Activation: Extending to Street Level
Transit media reinforced campaign visibility throughout the community. Full bus wraps and bench ads carried the same co-branded design system—scaled for fast-moving, high-traffic surfaces. These executions extended the campaign’s reach to street-level audiences and daily commuters.
