U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretarial Priorities Project
The Challenge
Soon after taking office in January 2005, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt identified nine areas in which he wanted the department to make significant progress. Known as the Secretary’s “priority projects,” these initiatives have helped define and shape the department’s activities during the Secretary’s tenure.
By providing the department with key areas around which to organize its activities, the priorities have become an effective management tool for HHS, enabling it to better fulfill its mission. However, their implementation has also been a tremendous undertaking, requiring not only the effective coordination of activities across the department, but also the development of innovative communications strategies and tactics capable of generating momentum for each priority – both within the department and among external audiences.
The Strategy
Nahigian Strategies was asked to assist the department in developing and implementing communications strategies that would maximize each priority’s potential. After meeting with senior leadership across the department and studying the individual management plans developed for each priority, Nahigian Strategies designed an overarching communications plan that united the department’s priorities into one cohesive vision.
In order to be effective, the communications plan had to address the priorities from both the macro and micro levels. To that end, the first element of the plan was a messaging architecture designed to provide a “60,000-foot view” of the priorities. The architecture was intended as a blueprint that could illustrate how the priorities fit together, help HHS staff understand the Secretary’s vision for each priority, and assist the department in communicating that vision to external audiences.
The second element of the plan was a 24-month strategic communications calendar. By looking at designated milestones over a 24-month period, Nahigian Strategies was able to identify periods of time when each of the priorities would undergo heightened activity and experience major accomplishments that warranted Secretarial involvement. Using this data, we then layered a campaign strategy over the management activities on the calendar, in essence creating individual campaigns for each of the priorities over the course of the 24-month period.
The third element of the communications plan designed by Nahigian Strategies is the actual strategic plan for each of the priority campaigns identified on the calendar. In the months leading up to an individual priority campaign, Nahigian Strategies works closely with the HHS team tasked to each priority and helps them develop a customized campaign plan. While the details of each priority’s campaign plan is tailored to the project’s needs and objectives, all of the plans are designed to generate earned media, convene priority stakeholders, communicate with key audiences and generate momentum for the Secretary’s initiative.
Once a priority campaign plan has been developed in consultation with the HHS team, Nahigian Strategies is intimately involved in the implementation of that plan. Our campaign-related work covers a wide range of activities, including the organization and coordination of events across the country, management of Secretarial travel and event logistics, the development of speech materials and other messaging documents, and on-the-ground support for HHS’s communications and advance departments.
The Results
To date, Nahigian Strategies has helped HHS design and implement two priority campaigns. The first was the campaign in support of the Secretary’s Value-Driven Health Care priority, which spanned nearly eight months and visited 25 states. By the campaign’s conclusion, more than 700 companies and 20 states had publicly pledged to support the four cornerstones of value-driven health care. The commitments made during the campaign represented more than 100 million American lives, and the earned media generated during the campaign successfully positioned the Secretary as a national leader in efforts to move the nation toward a value-driven health care system.
Currently, Nahigian Strategies is working with the HHS team assigned to the Affordable Choices priority to construct a similar outreach campaign. The plan includes an aggressive travel schedule and high-level events designed to generate earned media and momentum for the Secretary’s initiative.