Blue Shield of California's Black and White Campaign Makes Us Focus More Closely on Health

With a new tagline, “Never Stop,” Blue Shield of California has launched a new branding campaign from Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners with advertisements using striking black and white imagery that elicit the emotion of the issues we face with healthcare today.

The ‘Never Stop’ campaign spans all media channels including OOH billboards, direct mail, member communications, a website redesign, and 15, 30 and 60-second videos for both TV and online

In addition, a digital initiative features banners placed on a hyper-local, zip-code level. 

The work began rolling out in the summer of 2017 and continues into 2018. It also includes a series of billboards at Giants Stadium in San Francisco, the Embarcadero and Union Station, along with Print, digital, direct mail and outdoor kiosks.

“Our objective with this brand initiative is to demonstrate a brand difference that is immediately evident through its messaging and imagery,” said Paul Roberts, Creative Director at BSSP. We shot all the work in black and white, a medium that reveals a tone and feeling and lets you capture the essence - the soul - of the subjects, which is a very different approach for a healthcare company.”

The series of ads include a 50-plus athletic women with a headline “this is your senior moment,” a lesbian couple embrace under a headline that says “love covers all,” and a mother and daughter with the line “equal healthcare for equal work.”  Shot in black and white, the campaign is about the important things that have transformed its customers lives.  In one film we meet Adyr who talks about the connection between riding horses and being sober for  two-years and three-weeks. 

In another film, Giovanni talks about how surfing changed his life and got him through school and away from gangs.  There are 7 members featured in the ads, with more to come in 2018.