As Agency of Record for the historic rollout of “Obamacare” in Connecticut, we knew no template existed for the challenges we faced. So we developed and executed an entire go-to-market strategy encompassing awareness, education, engagement and enrollment, going well beyond an agency’s traditional role.

The launch of the state’s health insurance exchange was so successful that a case study featuring our integrated marketing strategy and execution will be taught as part of the curriculum at Harvard Business School and Harvard School of Public Health.

Some keys to our success:

Feet on the street. We mobilized a salaried outreach team fashioned after political campaign canvassing, with sales goals, procedures and marketing support. Combined with an early campaign launch, it led to high brand recognition and many qualified leads.

Face-to-face interaction. For a complex sale like health coverage, help is essential. Our solution: Apple Store-inspired Enrollment Centers, which had a 45% higher conversion rate than other channels. They also had enormous PR value – only Connecticut had them.

A professional’s touch. Think brokers won’t sell to individuals? They will if you make it easy. By doing all the prospecting, educating and qualifying, we freed brokers up to close. We also brought the leads right to them – at Enrollment Centers and Fairs. More than 30% of all enrollments came through brokers.

A seamless user experience. Throughout, our cohesive, comprehensive campaign put the user first, emphasizing ease, education and frequent contact.

• Powerful, response-focused advertising raised awareness 132% from June 2013 to April 2014
• An educational website attracted 630,000 visitors, and interactive features raised average engagement time to nearly three minutes
• Social media and a nurture email campaign kept leads warm and engaged

Response has been overwhelming.

At the end of the first enrollment period, the state had enrolled 208,000+ people – better than double its goal. As Forbes put it, “Connecticut isn’t just ahead of every other state; it’s in its own league entirely.”

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^*Forbes, 2/17/2014; Associated Press, 2/13/2014; The New York Times, 5/1/2014; The Washington Post, 10/25/2013; Time, 9/23/2013; New Britain Herald, 10/29/2013