SITUATION
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) - one of the nation's largest medical provider groups - has been a long-time client of GMMB for strategic counsel on public affairs, advertising and media relations.

In today's fast-changing world of healthcare policy, GMMB provides an experienced voice to help them meet their policy goals in Washington, DC, and communicate their unique positioning to consumers and opinion leaders across the country.

APPROACH
GMMB meets weekly with AAFP policy and media staff to keep updated on issues and determine communications priorities. AAFP and GMMB work together to develop a strategy that is tailored to whatever the situation demands. When a policy priority emerges as an issue, GMMB helps AAFP quickly respond.

GMMB and AAFP have worked together to develop issue advertising, grassroots campaigns, and targeted communications campaigns that help spotlight the perspectives of family physicians on a variety of issues. For example, we helped AAFP engage constituent chapters to put the issue of Provider Medicare Reimbursement on the forefront of the congressional agenda and overturn an enacted reduction in physicians' reimbursement.

GMMB and AAFP worked together to respond to proposed budget cuts in training programs for primary care physicians. The effort included strategic advertising targeted at policymakers, editorial board visits by constituent chapters, and letters-to-the-editor in publications across the country. AAFP was able to help fight the primary care shortage, and the budget cuts were reversed.

At the end of each year, GMMB analyzes the policy and political outlook for the country for the upcoming year, culminating in a multimedia presentation, to help the Board of Directors set priorities.

In 2000, AAFP asked GMMB to develop a national public awareness advertising campaign to strengthen and update public perceptions of family physicians. Research showed that consumers had favorable, respectful feelings about Family Physicians. However, they held antiquated views of Family Physicians and were unclear about the specialty. The campaign's goal was to broaden the unique and highly favorable image of Family Physicians, building on the effectiveness of the Family Physician brand, and at the same time, differentiate Family Physicians from other doctors and to distinguish the specialty of family medicine.