Search past winners/finalists


  • MESA logo

Cigna

2011 SAWIB WinnerCompany: Cigna, Bloomfield, CT
Company Description: Cigna is a global health service and financial company dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and sense of security. We provide an integrated suite of health services, such as medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy and vision care benefits, as well as group life, accident and disability insurance. We have 66 million customer relationships throughout the world.
Nomination Category: Communications & Marketing Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Multicultural

Nomination Title: Cigna's Haitian/Creole Postcard

In up to 500 words, tell the judges about the nominated campaign: its genesis, development, planning, commission, and performance to date:

Ingrid Lindberg is constantly striving to create the optimal experience that ensures that all of Cigna’s customers get the most from their health plans. She is a strong advocate for everything customer related and acts as their voice when they ask to be heard. She has led many successful customer related projects (ex. Opening our call centers 24/7, re-designing the Explanation of Benefits statement to be clear and simple) resulting Cigna doing well against the rest of the pack.

As a leading health insurer, Cigna is constantly striving to improve the health, well- being, and sense of security of their customers. This means getting customers to use available preventative services and engage in health improvement programs.

Recognizing that certain communities have been slow to adopt available health programs, Ingrid was determined to find out why.

Following extensive investigation and analyzing endless reports, it became clear that the “hard to reach” population in need of special consideration is Haitian/Creole. The data showed this population were using emergency services as their primary form of routine care.

Ingrid recognized an opportunity here to create an integrated communication strategy to inform this population of available services.

Key to this outreach is the involvement of Haitian/Creole women in getting their families to become more engaged in their members’ health. As the Bureau of Labor Statistics state: “Women make approximately 80 percent of health care decisions for their families and are more likely to be the care givers when a family member falls ill”.

The data also showed that the best way to connect with these women was through printed materials they can take with them on the go.

Out of these findings arose another challenge: “87 million adults have low health literacy.”

The solution: target the Haitian/Creole population through a postcard using minimal words and pictures to increase the outreach rate.

Learning from Charles Kettering at General Motors, “people positively do not speak the same language and words invite argument and diverse interpretation.” Another
way it is interpreted is “words divide people and pictures unite.”

In order to make this happen, she solicited feedback directly from subject matter experts from the same culture, and Cigna’s translation vendor. After much deliberation, the Haitian/Creole postcard was created and piloted Q2 of 2011 in Florida.

Here is a comment from a Haitian Cigna customer:

"I don’t really need the card today (as he folded the postcard and placed it in his wallet) but one day I might need the help. Now I know who to call. It seems that Cigna really cares. I am impressed that Cigna went out of its way to get this population the help they need."

Looking ahead, Ingrid expects to use the learning’s from this successful pilot to duplicate the postcard with other target populations.

(Click the first link below to view the actual postcard.)

List the URLs (web addresses) of any online news stories, press releases, work samples, videos, photographs, or other supporting materials that you would like the judges to see. IMPORTANT: List each URL on a separate line, begin each URL with http://, and enclose each URL in square brackets. For example, [http://www.yourcompany.com/pressrelease.html]:

Provide a brief biography of the person or persons who lead the team that created and carried out the nominated communications campaign (up to 100 words):

Just recognized as one of Hartford Business Journal’s “40 under forty” for 2011, Ingrid Lindberg was named Chief Customer Experience Officer of Cigna in January, 2008. She is responsible for developing and overseeing the implementation of a corporate-wide customer experience strategy, which addresses all matters related to how Cigna engages and serves its 66 million customers.

Prior to joining CIGNA, she held the role of Chief Marketing Officer for Ceridian Benefits Services. Before Ceridian, she was customer engagement lead for Definity Health.