UC Davis Health System will kick off an 18-month advertising campaign during the broadcast of the Olympic Games in August with the message that "there's an entire university behind every doctor."

"UC Davis Health System is different from all other health-care providers in the Sacramento area," said Robert Chason, CEO of the medical center. "I believe this advertising campaign will help our community appreciate that difference and better understand our unique role in the region."

"The health system is poised to move to a higher level of national prominence through focused research, quality instruction and advanced patient care. Public support is critical to our ability to succeed," Chason said.

Consisting of two 30-second television ads and two print ads, the campaign is intended to raise awareness of the benefits of academic medicine. It is the first time in more than a decade of advertising that the health system has positioned itself as part of a great research university that shares its discoveries and knowledge to make doctors and patients everywhere better.

Ads will appear on TV, in area newspapers and in magazines including Sports Illustrated, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek and Time.

The health system's new advertising agency, Y&R San Francisco, a division of Young & Rubicam of New York, created the spots. Both the television commercials and print advertising feature the health system's own physicians, researchers, residents and students, as well as scientists, professors and students from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, College of Engineering, College of Letters and Science, Division of Biological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine and members of the men's crew team and the California Aggies Marching Band-uh!

The campaign's strategic messages about the benefits of academic medicine are based on two years of market research on consumer attitudes toward academic medicine. Consumer focus groups also were used to test the advertising concepts when they were in development.

"While we know that our position as the only academic medical center in the region is secure, we have found that the community is uncertain of the tangible benefits," said Bonnie Hyatt, assistant director for public affairs and marketing. "This campaign is designed to demonstrate the intrinsic value of the academic environment. Our key message is that research and teaching really do improve patient care."

The campaign's effectiveness will be determined by measuring public perception of the benefits of academic medicine. A market research firm is currently polling Sacramento-area residents about their perceptions, and the results will be used as a baseline for subsequent surveys during and after the campaign. The ads will appear through the end of 2005.

To get a look at ads included in the campaign, see http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/update/july_30_04/ads.html.