The Fin

Northwell Health has a commitment to raising the standard of health care through innovation.
• As of 2016, no prosthetic allowed for a seamless transition from land to water.
• In the past, amputees had to remove or change their prosthetic to enter the water. Many avoid it altogether due to this situation.
• 6% of injured veterans return from war missing a limb.
• There are 2 million amputees in the United States.
• As a hospital network, Northwell has a very limited media budget.
The creative idea came in two successive phases: 1) Instead of talking about Northwell Health’s incredible veteran services and innovative philosophy, we demonstrated it by creating an innovation in real time. After months of
development, the Fin was born as a PR/media story disguised as an amphibious prosthetic.
2) The second part, and equally important, was to use this innovation to launch a customizable media story for outlets to use and target
to specific audiences through earned media.

While the ask was to create an ad campaign, the agency noticed an unmet need in prosthetics and proposed creating a first-of-its-kind amphibious prosthetic. The idea of the prosthetic was to design an innovative promotional item, followed by a media kit that allowed the story to be customized and reach many audiences.
• Promote real-life, real-time innovation in action to demonstrate the incredible capabilities of Northwell Health’s Military and Veteran Liaison Services.
• Promote Northwell’s different medical expertise, such as 3D printing and Veterans Services.
• Promote the innovative design through the journey of a retired Marine returning to the water.
• Consider the communities Northwell wants to reach: veterans, their families, amputees.