Case Study

EMS Membership Campaign & Website Development

Brownsville EMS Inc.

Brownsville EMS Inc. operates in a southwestern Pennsylvania community in which existing and forthcoming competition in the area of emergency services is quite strong.

Trailhead: Where We Started

When Brownsville EMS Inc. first reached out for assistance in the areas of brand stewardship, improved digital communications, and audience development, they emphasized the need to create immediate and timely interest in their services. They expressed their desire to be the “first ones out” in establishing a strong and enduring community presence, and to encourage donations and other forms of support through print and digital marketing efforts.

Trek: Steps We’ve Taken

In order to distinguish a proposed donation and membership solicitation campaign, the TrailBlaze team advocated personalizing Brownsville EMS Inc.’s staff and services to create a deeper connection with local residents. The campaign mailing(s) incorporated photos of individual EMTs and paramedics to “put a face to a name” and strengthen the process of trust-building within the community. An anecdotal case study was also embedded within campaign materials to capture the story of an iconic local football coach whose life was saved by Brownsville EMS paramedics in a moment of need. In addition to creating this more personalized and community-friendly messaging, TrailBlaze simultaneously worked to design uniform and recognizable branding (color schemes, logos, fonts, etc.) to ensure consistency and recognition across digital and physical platforms.

As part of revitalizing their brand, TrailBlaze created a new website for Brownsville EMS Inc., designed to offer a streamlined, user-friendly format and encourage online donations. With the primary goal of reducing annual costs for the membership and donation campaign through electronic solicitation, TrailBlaze pushed donors to an online form to encourage visitors to share their email address, thus guaranteeing a reduction in the future need of physical mailers (reducing cost for the department), and providing an increasingly environmentally-friendly approach to connecting with stakeholders. For the convenience of Brownsville EMS Inc., Trailblaze provided a custom/self-mailer service making received responses to physical and digital forms easily visible to Brownsville EMS staff, and complete with valuable member-oriented data for the organization.

Summit: Vision Realized

The tailored, TrailBlaze-designed membership campaign increased community trust in Brownsville EMS Inc. as the leading provider of emergency services in the Brownsville area. Uniform branding techniques have made Brownsville EMS Inc.’s visual presence (via logos, text, etc.) more readily recognizable to those in their local community. Additionally, Brownsville EMS Inc.’s new website ensures continued engagement with current and potential members, streamlined communication, as well as reduced operation costs for the organization as it increasingly relies on digital communication tools to elicit donations and ongoing community participation.